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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


From  the  Library  of 

GERTRUDE  WEIL 

1879-1971 


7,',^,^  OF  N  CAT  CHAPEL  HILL 

lillllllfl 

00022093789 


FLORENCE   STUDIES    BONE    STRUCTURE. 


MY   WONDER-STORY 


BY 


ANNE    KENDRICK    BENEDICT 


'  And  Nature  the  old  Nurse  took 

The  child  upon  her  knee, 
Saying,  '  Here  is  a  story  book 

Thy  Father  has  written  for  thee.'" 


BOSTON 

D    LOTHROP    COMPANY 

FRANKLIN     AND    HAWLEY    STREETS 


Copyright  1888 

HY 

D  Lothrop  Company 


CONTENTS. 


Chapthr. 

I.  How  the  Bones  are  made 

II.  The  Number  of  the  Bones 

III.  How  the  Bones  are  joined  together 

IV.  Muscles,  Fat,  and  Skin 
V.  The  Organs  that  take  care  of  Blood 

VI.  The  Blood,  and  the  Way  it  goes  around 

VII.  How  we  digest  our  Food 

VIII.  The  Lymphatic  System 

IX.  Our  Nerves 

X.  The  Eye 

XI.  The  Ear 

XII.  Touch,  Taste,  and  Smell 


Pagr. 
I  I 

23 
41 
60 

78 

97 
114 
128 

137 
152 
162 
167 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/mywonderstoryOObene 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Florence  studies  bone  structure 

What  Florence  saw  with  the  magnifying  glass 

Jack  as  doctor 

The  bone  man 

Bones  of  the  arm  and  hand 

Section  of  the  bones  at  the  hip 

The  atlas     .... 

The  muscle-man 

Five  little  cells  of  membrane 

Section  of  the  skin 

Positions  of  organs  in  neck  and  chest 

The  heart,  lungs  and  other  organs 

Diagram  showing  circulation  of  blood 

"Doors"  in  heart  (No.  i) 

"Doors"  in  heart  (No.  2) 

Florence 

Florence  and  Robbie 

Red  and  white  corpuscles  of  the  blood 

Position  of  salivary  glands 

Section  of  mouth  and  nose 

Interior  of  stomach 

The  liver 

The  lymphatics   . 

Side  view  of  brain 

The  eyeball 

Little  gland  that  makes  the  tears 

Interior  parts  of  the  ear 

Drum  of  the  ear 

Section  of  the  nose 

The  mouth 


Fronds. 


Pack. 

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1  io 
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169 
171 


MY    WONDER-STORY 


CHAPTER    I. 


HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 


was     a     bright    day     in     the 


spring-time :  a  day  of  open 
windows  and  chirping  robins ; 
a  day  of  crocuses,  and  dande- 
lions ;  even  the  violet  had 
lifted  its  head  toward  the 
sunshine.  The      peach-trees 

gave  their  promise  of  a  rich  harvest.  The  apple- 
blossoms  sent  their  perfume  abroad,  telling  of  the 
good  things  of  the  autumn.  The  cherry-trees  were 
ready  to  scatter  their  shower,  and  it  would  take 
but  a  few  weeks  of  such  weather  as  this  to  swell 
and    redden    the    fruit. 

On    a    lawn    outside    of    my  window,   Florence    and 


1 1 


12  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 

Jack,  my  children,  had  been  playing.  They  had 
made  daisy  chains,  romped  with  Fido,  and  raked 
pretty  stones  from  the  gravel  walk  until  they  were 
tired.  Coming  to  the  window,  they  called  both  at 
a  time,  not  as  well-trained  children  ought: 
"Mamma!  mamma!  isn't  it  eleven  o'clock?" 
Eleven  o'clock  meant  a  lunch  of  crackers  and 
apples,  and,  on  this  particular  day  of  the  week,  a 
story  from  mamma.  I  looked  at  the  clock.  Yes ! 
they  had  guessed  right.  The  hour  hand  had  found 
its  way  to  XL,  the  minute  hand  to  XII.,  and  it 
was  eleven  o'clock.  I  rang  for  the  lunch.  With 
faces  washed  and  hats  put  away,  they  were  soon 
eating  it.  It  was  not  elaborate,  and  the  long  romp 
had  made  them  hungry,  so  very  soon  they  were 
seated  by  me  with  expectant  eyes  and  ears,  waiting 
for    the    story.     Listen,   and    you    shall    hear    it,   too. 

"  Far  away,  in  a  country  that  was  very  beautiful, 
in  a  home  that  had  about  it  everything  that  was 
lovely,  there  lived,  a  long  time  ago,  a  great  King. 
We  do  not  know  how  he  looked,  or  even  what 
form    he    had.      We    know    three    things    about    him : 


HO  W   THE   BONES   ARE   MADE.  13 

He  was  very  powerful,  perfectly  good,  and  he  had 
a  great  heart  full  of  love.  He  had  lived  in  this 
home  many  years.  His  powerful  mind  had  thought 
and  thought  a  great  deal  until  he  had  created  many 
worlds,  that  were  whirling  around  in  the  air.  He- 
had  hung  in  the  heavens  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  beautiful  lamps  lighted  by  blazing  suns. 
In  the  most  simple  ways  he  had  given  to  these 
worlds  power  by  which  they  could  whirl,  and  hang 
there  and  be  blazing  forever.  But  He  wanted  some- 
thing to  love.  He  could  not  love  the  blazing  suns, 
the  lovely  stars.  They  had  no  hearts  with  which 
to    love    him    in    return,    so    he    said : 

" '  I  will  make  a  form,  the  most  wonderful  of 
anything  that  I  have  yet  made.  I  will  breathe  into 
it  a  part  of  my  own  life.  It  shall  have  power 
that  mv  suns  and  my  worlds  know  nothing  of. 
It  shall  be  perfect  in  every  part.  Yet  every  part 
shall  be  needed  to  make  the  whole.  It  shall  be 
good,  as  I  am  good;  it  shall  love  as  I  can  love; 
I  will  make  it  worthy  of  my  love,  and  I  will  love 
it    forever.' 


i4  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 

"  Do  you  know  who  is  this  great  King  ?  It  is 
God,  our  Father.  Do  you  know  what  this  wonder- 
ful form  is  ?  It  is  your  body  and  mine.  Do  you 
know  what  dwells  in  this  wonderful  form  ?  Your 
soul  and  mine.  But  now,  how  much  do  you  know 
about  this  wonderful  body  that  God  has  placed 
your  soul  in,  and  given  you  to  take  care  of? 
You  run  and  jump  and  play.  You  move  your 
heads  and  arms   and   hands   and   eyes    and    noses "  — 

"  Mamma,  I  can't  make  my  ears  go,"  piped  out 
little    Jack. 

"  And  yet  I  don't  believe  you  have  ever  thought 
what    a    strange    creature    you    are." 

Here  we  all  had  to  stop  and  try  to  move  our 
ears  for  Jack's  benefit.  But  he  was  right.  They 
wouldn't    go.     I    then    went    on : 

"  Jack  loves  to  get  the  bees  and  bugs  and  pull 
them  to  pieces.  Florence  liks  to  see  what  flowers 
are  made  of,  and  poke  her  dollies  in  the  ribs  to  see 
what  they  are  stuffed  with.  She  loves  to  break 
their  wax  heads  to  see  the  eyes  open  and  shut. 
But  if  I   let  you  into  the  secrets  of  your  bodies  you 


HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE.  15 

will  find  out  things  so  much  more  wonderful,  that 
I  am  afraid  you  will  cut  off  your  hands  and  arms 
and  heads  to  see  if  these  things  are  true.  But  if 
you  will  promise  me  never  even  to  stick  a  pin  into 
your  arms  to  see  the  blood  run,  1  will  tell  you 
something  of    all    these    things." 

They  both  laughed,  and  promised. 

"  And  where  shall  we  begin  ?  At  the  bottom,  or 
the  top,  or  in  the  middle?  I  am  afraid  that  if  we 
began  at  the  feet  the  head  might  not  like  it,  and  if 
we  began  at  the  head  the  feet  might  do  that  naughty 
thing  they  never  were  meant  to  do.  I  think  we 
will   start   somewhere   in    the   middle.'' 

I  touched  the  bell,  and  Mary  came  in,  bringing 
on  a  platter  a  beefsteak,  raw.  Jack  and  Florence 
looked   first   at    Mary   and   then    at   me. 

I  knew  they  were  thinking,  "  Is  mamma  going  to 
give   us   raw   beef  to  eat  ? " 

Jack  spoke   out. 

"  Mamma,    what    is    that    for  ? "    he    said. 

"  You   wait  and   see,  my   boy,"   I   answered. 

Jack   did    not  love  to  wait,  and    I    know  that  if  he 


1 6  HO  W  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 

had  had  time  to  stop  wondering  in  his  little  mind, 
his  lips  would  have  formed  themselves  into  a  pout, 
and  he  would  have  said : 

"  I  don't  want  to  know  at  all,  if  I  have  to  wait. 
Florence,  too,  has  her  weaknesses.  But  she  is  a 
great  comfort  at  such  a  time,  when  she  sits  quiet 
and  demure,  and  after  thinking  it  out  as  far  as  she 
can,  she   says,  in   a  wise  tone : 

"  '  Jack,  don't  you  see  ?  Mamma  is  going  to  show 
us  what  our  flesh  and   blood  and  bones   are  like.' ' 

"  That's  almost  right,  little  girl,"  I  answered ;  "  but 
we  can't  say  much  about  flesh  and  blood  to-day. 
There  is  so  much  to  say  about  that  last  thing  you 
spoke   about.     What  was  it  ?  " 

"  Bone,"  said   Jack. 

"That's    right." 

"  Mary,  move  the  stand  near  me  and  put  the  plat- 
ter on  it.  Now.  little  witches,  come  up  close,  and 
we   will  find   what  this   beefsteak   is  for." 

"  Do  you  both  see  in  the  centre  a  large  round 
bone  ? "  They  both  saw  it.  "  Well,  if  your  bones 
and   mine  were    sawed    off,  that    is    just   the  way  the 


HOW   THE   BONES   ARE   MADE. 


>7 


m*M$MM 


ends  would  look,  only  not  quite  so  large,  and  they 
would  be  many  different  shapes.  Now,  Florence,  run 
get  the  magnifying  glass,  and 
look  at  the  bone.  There!  tell 
me  what  you  see." 

"Why,  mamma!"  she  an-  fiHE2g$&$l$ 
swered,  with  her  eye  on  the 
glass,  "  it  looks  as  if  there 
were  lots  of  holes  in  it,  filled 
with  something  like  fat.  Isn't 
it  funny  ?     See,  Jack  !  " 

Jack    looked    and    saw    them, 
sure    enough. 


Sffil 


4fi 


Mill 


bo 


"  I  didn't  know  just  beefsteak       ► 'v. -^'^Qw^^i^li 

nes  looked  like  that,"  he  said.       %^'^i^^rJrM^(i 

"  Mamma,"  said  Florence, 
"can't  I  get  a  pin  and  stick 
it  in  there  ?  " 

"Certainly." 

She  got  it,  and  we  found  that 
we    could    stick    our    pin    all  over   the    bone,  and   that 
there    must    be    as    many    as    a     hundred    little    holes 


WHAT  FLORENCE  SAW  WITH  THE  MAG- 
NIFYING GLASS.  C-C-C — THE  "  HOLES. 
PILLED  WITH  SOFT  MATERIAL  LIKE 
FAT." 


1 8  HOW   THE   BONES  ARE   MADE. 

in  that  one  piece  of  bone.  These  were  all  filled  with 
soft  material   like  fat. 

"What  is  that  thing  that  looks  like  fat,  mamma?" 
asked  Jack. 

"  Listen,  chickies,  while  I  read,  and  you  will  find 
out    what    it    is." 

"  Bones  are  made  of  three  things.  First,  fiber. 
This  is  a  stringy  kind  of  material  that  will  bend, 
but  is  so  tough  that  you  can  hardly  break  it,  or 
even  cut  it.  Fiber  is  put  in  so  as  to  make  the 
bones." 

"  O,  mamma  !  I  know  !  I  know  !  "  said  Florence, 
"  please   let    me    tell  !      I   thought  "  — 

"  Go  on,"    I   said. 

"  It  makes  them  so  they  can  bend  a  little  and 
won't  break.  They  have  to  do  that  because  we  wiggle 
so  much." 

We  laughed,  and  I  told  Florence  she  was  right. 

"  You  can't  see  it  in  the  bone,"  said  Jack. 

"  No !  Not  so  as  to  tell  what  it  is.  It  is  part 
of  that  material  in  the  little  holes.  The  kind  that 
looks  like  fat." 


NO  IV  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE.  19 

"What's    the    other    part?"    said    Florence. 

"  The    other  part  is  cartilage,  or  gristle." 

"  O,  yes !  I  know  what  that  is,"  said  Jack ;  "I've 
seen  it  lots  of  times  in  chickens.  I  like  to  eat  it 
sometimes." 

"  But    you    can't    see    that,  either,"  said    Florence. 

"  No,  not  unless  you  have  a  very  large  glass. 
Some  bones  are  fixed  so  that  the  different  parts 
show  more  plainly.  The  fiber  and  the  cartilage  are 
called  the  animal  matter  of  the  bones,  because  these 
kinds  of  matter  are  found  only  in  animals." 

"  Are    people    animals  ?  "    asked    Jack. 

"  Yes ;    they    have    animal    bodies." 

"Why  are  the  bones  fixed  that  way,  mamma?" 
asked    Jack. 

"  Let    us    think,"    said    Florence. 

"  O,  dear!    I    can't  think,"  said    Jack.     "I  tried." 

Jack  has  a  funny  mind.  He  can  think  nicely,  but 
it  must  be,  pop !  all  in  a  minute.  I  guess  he  had 
spent  about  half  a  minute  on  that  question.  But 
he  knew  he  could  never  find  it  out.  Even  Florence 
had    to    give    it    up. 


20  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 

"Think,  my  little  ones,  if  the  frame  that  is  inside 
of  us  were  all  made  of  lime,  or  material  like  that, 
how  heavy  it  would  be  to  carry  about    all  the  time." 

"  The  cartilage  and  fiber  make  it  lighter,  don't 
they  ? "    said    Florence. 

"Yes;    but    that    isn't    all." 

"The  bone  would  be  softer,"  Jack  said,  "and  when 
we  bump  our  legs  it  would  press  in,  and  wouldn't 
break." 

"  Exactly,  my  boy.  Babies'  bones  are  almost  all 
cartilage,  because  the  little  things  are  so  helpless 
that  their  bones  would  be  very  apt  to  be  broken 
if  they  were  hard.  When  we  grow  older,  to  be 
little  boys  and  girls,  and  older  boys  and  girls, 
there  is  more  fiber  in  the  bones,  because  we  have 
to  jump  and  hop  and  run,  and  our  bones  need  to 
be  very  tough.  When  we  grow  to  be  men  and 
women,  our  bones  have  more  earthy  matter  and 
become  harder,  because  we  don't  fly  about  so  much 
and  so  fast.  Old  people  have  bones  made  almost 
entirely  of  earthy  matter.  Their  bones  break  very 
easily." 


HOW   THE   BONES  ARE  MADE.  21 

"  Yes,"  said  Florence,  "  Grandma  Blake  broke  her 
arm    when    she    fell    about    five    steps,    didn't    she?" 

"  And  I  tumbled  all  the  way  down  the  very  next 
day,  didn't  I?"  said  Jack,  "and  only  bumped  my 
head." 

"  Yes." 

"Mamma,  I  think  that  'great  King'  is  very 
wonderful,    don't    you  ? "    said    Florence    thoughtfully. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered.  "  Do  not  forget  the  '  great 
King '  for  one  moment  while  you  are  studying 
about  your  bodies.  You  can  never  see  his  power 
more    plainly." 

"  The  outside  of  the  bones  is  always  harder  than 
the  inside.  If  you  look  closely  at  the  one  we  have 
here  you  will  see  around  the  edge  a  rim  of  the 
earthy  matter,  and  more  of  the  holes  filled  with 
animal  matter  inside.  We  could  easily  see  it. 
Some  of  the  long  bones  are  hollow  inside,  and  are 
filled    with    marrow." 

"  Do  we  have  marrow  in  us  ? "  said  Jack.  "  I 
love    marrow." 

"  Mamma,"    said     Florence,     looking     hard     at     our 


22  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  MADE. 

beefsteak  bone,  "  it  seems  to  me  that  I  can  see 
something    on    the    very    outside    of    the    bone." 

"Yes;  that  is  a  covering  that  covers  the  whole 
bone  on  the  outside.  It  has  in  it  the  little  tubes 
that    carry    the    blood    to    the    bones." 

"  Do  the  bones  have  to  have  blood  in  them  ? " 
said    Jack.     "Why?" 

"  To  make  them  grow.  Everything  in  the  body 
needs    blood." 

"  Well,  I  never  saw  anything  so  funny  as  it  all 
is,    anyhow,"    said    Jack. 

"  Yes,  it's  very,  very  strange.  But  your  heads 
and  mine  are  tired  to-day.  We'll  go  on  next  week 
and  tell  more.  Find  me  all  the  animal  bones  you 
can ;  beef  bones,  mutton  bones,  or  chicken  bones, 
dry  bones  or  soft  bones.  Find  me  pieces  of  fiber 
and  gristle,  and  lime  if  you  can.  All  that  will 
help    us    in    our    lesson." 

"  Mamma,  I  am  going  to  be  a  doctor,"  was  Jack's 
cry    as    he    ran    off    to    get    ready    for    dinner. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE     NUMBER     OF     THE     BONES. 


n  n 


ATURE,  fortune,  and  art  had 
given  to  Florence  and  Jack 
a  beautiful  home.  1 1  was 
placed  in  one  of  the  old  New 
England    villages. 

Near  the  edge  of  this  vil- 
lage a  lake  had  nestled  itself 
away  among  hills  and  valleys.  A  high  mountain 
rose  in  the  distance. 

On  a  knoll  at  the  left  of  this  lake  our  house  had 
been  built.  It  was  a  square  frame  house,  with  broad 
porches  on  each  side.  On  the  left  were  apple  or- 
chards, peach  orchards,  and  cultivated  fields.  In  front 
lay  the  broad  lawn,  with  well-kept  gravel  walks 
where  you    first   met   my  children. 

They  found  constant    pleasure    in   roaming  through 


24  THE   NUMBER    OF   THE  BONES. 

the  fields  and  orchards,  or  exploring  woods  which 
lay  near  the  house.  A  large,  flat-bottomed  boat  was 
anchored  at  the  foot  of  the  knoll,  and  the  children 
could  use  the  oars  nicely.  Both  of  them  were  also 
good  swimmers. 

At  no  time  of  the  year  did  our  home  look  so 
beautiful  as  now.  I  had  taken  the  children  out  of 
school  that  they  might  enjoy  it,  and  was  giving 
them  the  weekly  lessons  that  they  might  have  some- 
thing to  think  about.     A  simple  study  of  nature. 

In  the  second  story  of  our  house  was  a  large 
room  with  two  small  rooms  opening  out  of  it.  The 
large  room  had  windows  cut  to  the  floor,  where  a 
view  could  be  had   of   the  lake  and   the   hills. 

I  had  given  these  three  rooms  to  the  children.  The 
small  rooms  were  their  sleeping  rooms.  The  large 
room  was  a  place  for  their  treasures.  I  passed  the 
door  not  long  after  the  day  on  which  our  last  lesson 
closed.  It  was  a  little  open,  and,  as  I  heard  the  chil- 
dren earnestly  talking  about  something,  I  stopped  to 
listen. 

I   soon  found  that    a  "  dreadful   accident "  had  hap- 


JACK     AS    liO'J  fUK. 


THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES.  27 

pened  to  Florence.  She  had  broken  her  leg  and 
both  her  arms.  Jack  was  the  doctor.  He  had  got 
white  rags  tied  around  the  leg  and  one  arm,  and 
was  just  tying  up  the  other. 

"Miss    Blake,"    he    said,   "does    it    hurt    now?" 

"  Of    course    it    does,  Doctor,"    she    answered. 

Just  then  I  peeped  through  the  door,  and  saw 
that  the  white  cloth  was  one  of  my  best  towels. 
Jack  held  in  his  hand  a  bottle,  and  was  pouring 
the  contents  on  the  towel.  My  heart  sank,  for  I 
saw  that  the  bottle  was  my  bottle  of  Peruvian  bark, 
and  I  knew  that  the  stain  would  never  come  out. 
But  I  wanted  to  hear  the  end,  and  since  the  towel 
was  spoiled,  I   kept  quiet. 

"  Miss  Blake,"  Jack  went  on,  "  I  don't  see  why 
this  hurts.  This  is  '  Pond's  Extract,'  and  I've  heard 
that  nothing  hurts  any  more  after  that  has  been  put 
on. 

"  Well,  it's  getting  better,"  said   Florence. 

"  Miss  Blake,"  Jack  continued,  "  your  mother  must 
rub  this  on  every  half-hour  almost  all  day,  and  then 
the   bones'll  grow   together." 


28  THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES. 

"  How  do  you  know  the  bones'll  grow  together, 
Doctor  ?  "  asked   Florence. 

Jack  forgot  for  a  minute  or  two  that  he  was  "  doc- 
tor," and  said  earnestly,  "  Why,  Florence,  John  killed  • 
old  Speckle  the  other  day,  and  Becky  cooked  her 
for  dinner.  I  found  the  funniest  kind  of  a  bone  in 
her  you  ever  saw.  I  saved  it  for  mamma,  and 
showed  it  to  John.  John  said  it  was  the  bone  of  her 
leg.  He  said  she  broke  the  bone  two  or  three  months 
ago.  He  bound  it  up  with  a  rag,  and  it  grew  to- 
gether." And,  "  Miss  Blake,"  he  went  on,  remember- 
ing himself  again,  "  if  Speckle's  leg  grew  together, 
your  leg'll  grow  together,  for  your  bones  are  made  of 
the  same  thing  that  chickens'   legs   are   made  of." 

"  Doctor,"  said  Florence,  "  I  know  just  as  well  as 
you  do  what  my  bones  are  made  of.  They're  fiber, 
and  "  — 

"  O,  Florence !  "  said  the  doctor,  "  you  must  pre- 
tend you  don't,  because  I'm  a  man,   and   I'm   doctor." 

"All  right,"  said  Florence,  "but  I'm  tired  of  play- 
ing this.  Won't  you  please  take  off  these  rags,  and 
let's    go    out    into    the    garden." 


THE  NUMBER    OF   THE   BONES.  29 

I  slipped  quietly  away,  for  I  did  not  care  to  be 
found  out,  and  soon  saw  the  children  romping  in 
the  garden.  They  came  in  to  lunch,  their  hands  full 
of  wood  violets,  and  their  hats  covered  with  blossoms. 

Thus  the  clays  slipped  away  until  story-telling  Fri- 
day came  again.  The  children  talked  so  much  about 
their  collection  of  bones  that  the  servants  in  the 
house,  and  even  the  dog,  had  been  made  to  furnish 
specimens. 

Old  Becky,  the  cook,  came  in  to  me  one  day,  her 
white  teeth  shining,  her  hands  on  her  fat  sides,  while 
she  was  bursting  with  laughter. 

"  Lor,  Missus,"  she  said,  "  pleas  cum  yerr  to  de 
window  and  see  little  Jack.  He's  got  de  dog  by  de 
tail." 

I  looked  out.  There  stood  Fido  gnawing  his 
bone  for  breakfast,  and  Jack  sitting  behind  him 
holding  on  to  his  tail.  He  was  afraid  that  Fido 
might  run  away  with  the  bone,  and,  after  the  fash- 
ion of  dogs,  bury  it.  Fido  did  not  seem  to  be 
troubled  at  first,  but  as  soon  as  his  hunger  began 
to    go    away    a    little,    he    did    not    like    to    have    his 


3o  THE  NUMBER    OE  THE  BONES. 

tail  held  so  tight.  He  began  to  growl.  But  Jack 
still  held  on.  The  growling  grew  louder,  and  I 
got  frightened.  I  called  Jack  and  he  was  much 
displeased  with  me  for  doing  so.  He  watched  Fido, 
though,  and   carefully  followed   the    fate  of  the  bone. 

When  we  sat  down  to  our  next  lesson  we  found 
that  the  specimens  helped  us  very  much.  We  had 
lime,  bones,  soft  and  hard.  In  the  hard  ones  we 
could  easily  see  where  the  animal  matter  had  been, 
and  had  dried  away.  We  had  first  a  long  talk 
about    them,  and  then  went  on  with  our  work. 

On  a  stand  before  me  the  children  found  two 
large  books,  both  of  them  with  long  names.  One  of 
them  was  called  Encyclopaedia  Britannica ;  the  other 
a  physiology.  We  did  not  stop  to  worry  about  the 
names  to-day.  We  just  opened  the  books  and  found 
some  pictures  we  wanted.  The  first  was  a  large  man 
all  bones,  no  muscle  or  flesh  or  skin  on  him;  nothing 
inside  of  him.     A  bone  man.     I   then  began  to    read. 

"  Now,    my    children,    look    hard    at    this    picture." 

I  did  not  need  to  say  this.  They  were  doing  it, 
their    eyes    and    mouths    wide    open. 


MwulitTMate. 


Vpptr  ,\rm. 


CoLumn. 


hint 


<&' 


THE    BONE    MAN. 


THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES.  33 

"  Look  first  at  his  head.  Look  at  the  big,  thick 
bones  on  top,  with  big  round  places  to  fit  the  eyes 
in,  then  at  the  little  bit  of  a  bone  that  belongs  to 
the  nose.  The  nose  has  not  much  bone  in  it.  A 
large  part  of  it  is  made  of  cartilage  or  gristle.  Then 
look  at  the  big  bones  of  the  cheeks,  and  the  pointed 
bone  of  the  chin.  See  the  bones  of  the  jaw  that 
hold    the    teeth." 

"  O,  mamma ! "  said  Jack,  "  I  can  find  them  real 
easy." 

"  I   can,  too,"  said  Florence,  "  I  think  it's  splendid." 

"  Now,"  I  went  on,  "  I  want  you  to  look  away 
from    the    picture,    and    feel    your   own    heads." 

Their    hands    went   up    in    a   minute. 

"  Feel  the  big  bones  on  top,  and  behind.  Feel 
those  around  your  eyes,  your  ears,  and  your  nose." 

"  O,  mamma ! "  said  Florence,  "  I  feel  them  just 
as    plain    as    day." 

"  Feel  those  on  your  jaw,  and  that  sharp  bone  in 
your  pretty  little  dimpled  chins.  Find  those  high 
bones  in  your  soft,  pink  cheeks  that  mamma  loves 
to  kiss  so  much." 


34  THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES. 

Jack  was  feeling  so  hard  that  he  really  forgot  to 
talk. 

Now  I  told  them  to  find  a  picture  of  the  bone- 
man's    back.     They    found    it,  and  I  went    on. 

"  Look  right  down  the  middle,"  I  said,  "  and  you 
will  see  what  seems  to  be  one  long  bone  with  spikes 
on  it.  These  spikes  stick  straight  out  in  the  mid- 
dle behind,  and  there  is  a  row  of  spikes  on  each 
side  of  the  middle  row." 

They  saw  the  long  bone,  and  before  I  had  time 
to  tell  them,  were  feeling  their  own  backbones.  "  Be- 
gin at  the  back  of  the  neck,"  I  said,  "  and  feel 
down    to    the    end    of   your  backs." 

"  Mamma,  I  can  feel  Florence's  humps  better  than 
I  can  mine,"  said  Jack.  "What's  the  reason?  Oh!  I 
know,   I'm   fatter." 

"I'm  glad  I'm  not  fat  now,"  said  Florence,  "even 
if  the  girls  do  call  me  '  leany !  leany ! '  I  can  feel 
my    spikes    splendid." 

Then  we  turned  to  the  picture  again.  Fastened 
to  the  backbone  on  each  side  we  saw  twelve  long, 
fiat  bones    bent    around    toward    the    front.     Some   of 


THE  NUMBER    OF   THE  BONES.  35 

these  were  fastened  to  a  thick,  hard  bone  that  went 
from  the  front  part  of  the  neck  about  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  waist.  We  could  all  feel  these  nicely. 
The  next  thing  we  looked  at  was  a  bone  going 
from  the  side  of  the  neck  to  the  top  of  the  arm. 
On  this  bone  we  saw  a  large,  flat  piece  of  bone 
going  down  over  the  back. 

'That's  the  shoulder-blade,  isn't  it,  mamma?"  said 
Florence.     "  We've  felt    that  lots   of  times." 
"  Yes !  " 

Then  we  saw  another  bone  fastened  at  one  end 
to  the  front  bone,  and  at  the  other  end  to  the 
shoulder-bone.  It  is  a  slender  round  bone,  and  is 
called  the  collar-bone.     They  both  felt  that,  too. 

"Boys  have  stronger  collar-bones  than  girls;  so, 
Jack,  you  must  be  very  careful  of  Florence's  collar- 
bone. If  a  big  dog  comes  along,  and  you  have  to 
fight  it,  you  must  hit  it,  because  your  collar-bone  is 
so  much  stronger.  It  was  not  given  you  to  make 
you  rude  and  rough,  but  to  give  you  strength  and 
manliness.  You  need  this  because  you  have  to  «o 
out  into  the  world  and  do   your  work,  and  take  care 


36 


THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES. 


of  your   mamma  and   sister.     Never   forget  that  they 
are  not    made    so  strong    as    you." 

"  Now  we  come  to  the  arm.  In  the  top  of  the 
arm  you  can  see  one  long  bone.  This  goes  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  elbow.     Below  the  elbow  are  two 

long  bones,  a  large  one,  and  one 
smaller.  These  go  to  the  wrist." 
"  Mamma,"  said  Jack,  "  I  can 
feel  that  one  bone  in  the  top 
of  my  arm,  but  I  can't  feel  two 
in   the   lower   part." 

"No;  you  can't  feel  two. 
They  are  covered  with  muscle 
and    flesh." 


BONES  OF  THE  ARM  AND  HAND.  A 
MUSCLE,  THE  BICEPS,  IS  SEEN,  AT- 
TACHED TO  THE  SHOULDER-BLADE, 
AT  a,  IN  TWO  PLACES,  AND  TO  A 
BONE  OF  THE  LOWER  ARM  IN 
ONE    PLACE. 


"  The    wrist    is    made    up    of 

eight    very    small    bones.       The 

great    King    has    fixed    them    in 

there  in  a  very   wonderful   way. 

If  anything  happens  to   these   little  bones,   it  is  very 

hard  for  the  doctors  to  get  them  fixed  again,  they  are 

all  fitted   together  so   nicely." 

"Why   can't   we   feel    these  bones?"   said    Florence. 


THE   NUMBER    OF   THE  BONES.  37 

"  Because  they  are  covered  by  things  that  feel  like 
cords.  They  are  called  tendons.  We  shall  study 
about  them  in  another  lesson.  In  the  hand  and  fin- 
ger you  will  see  nineteen  more  little  bones.  These 
bones  have  to  be  very  small,  and  so  fixed  that  they 
can   move." 

"  Because  we  have  to  move  our  hands  so  much,'' 
said    Jack. 

"Ycf." 

"  Mamma,  do  you  think  papa  could  have  made 
anything  as  strange  as  a  person's  body  ? "  said 
Florence  while  she  was  moving  her  little  fingers 
up  and  down,  realizing  for  the  first  time  the  mys- 
tery of    nature. 

"  No,  Florence ;  the  mind  of  the  great  King  only 
could    work    it    out." 

"  Now  look  down  to  the  bone  man's  legs.  Here 
you  can  see  a  large  bone  on  the  hip.  This  bone 
has  a  round  hump  on  it.  You  can  feel  your  hip- 
bones. Around  this  hip-bone  are  three  or  four  smaller 
ones.  Going  from  the  hip  to  the  knee  is  a  long, 
large  bone  much    the    same    shape    as  the  one  in  the 


38  THE  NUMBER   OF  THE  BONES. 

arm.  Larger,  of  course.  Two  smaller  bones  go  from 
the  knee  to  the  foot.  These  are  much  like  those 
in    the    arm,  too." 

"  We    can't    feel    these    bones    much,"  said  Jack. 

"  Not    very  much." 

"  The  ankles  and  feet  are  a  good  deal  like  the 
wrist  and  the  hand.  They  have  many  little  bones 
that  are  fixed  snugly  in  their  places.  They  are 
fixed  in  just  such  a  way  that  the  feet  can  do  all 
the  running  and  trotting,  and  skipping  and  jumping 
that  they  do.  And  the  large,  round  heel-bone  is  put 
in.  All  the  other  bones  of  the  body  rest  on  these 
bones  of   the    feet." 

"  I    don't    see    how    they    can    do    it,"    said    Jack. 

"  Well,  when  you  grow  older,  and  learn  how  things 
are    balanced,  you  will    understand    it." 

"Mamma,  how  are  the  bones  joined  together?" 
said   Florence. 

"  We  can't  talk  about  that  to-day,  Florence.  It  is 
too  long  a  story.  Our  next  lesson  shall  tell  about 
it.  We  have  worked  long  enough  for  to-day,  and 
there  is   Mary  to  get  you   ready  for  dinner." 


THE  NUMBER    OF  THE  BONES.  39 

When  the  preparations  for  dinner  were  finished  we 
seated  ourselves  at  the  table.  Papa  took  dinner  in 
town.  Jack,  with  his  funny  little  way  of  asking 
questions,  burst  out,  —  "  Mamma,  are  those  bones  in 
that   roast  beef    real    cow's    bones?" 

I  asked  Florence  what  she  thought  of  it,  and  she 
answered :  — 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  help  being,  for  you 
have  told  us  that  beef  was  cow,  and  the  bones  seem 
to   be   in   tight." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  they  are  in  tight,  and  I  suppose 
some  poor  cow  had  those  bones  for  part  of  its  ribs 
before   the  butcher   cut   her  up   for  our  dinner." 

"  Well,  mamma,"  continued  Florence,  "  if  the  bones 
inside  of  us  were  all  cut  up  they  would  look  just 
about  like  cows'  bones,  and  dogs'  bones,  and  all 
those   kinds    of    bones,   wouldn't   they?" 

"  Yes,  darling ;  only  not  the  same  size,  and  some 
of  them   are  not   the  same    shape." 

But  I  was  afraid  that  the  little  heads  would  do  too 
much  thinking,  and  the  rest  of  the  meal  I  changed 
the    subject    to   jackknives    and    dollies. 


4o  THE  NUMBER    OF   THE  BONES. 

A  day  or  two  after  I  sat  down  with  them.  We 
took  our  collection  of  bones,  and  our  picture  of  the 
bone  man,  tried  to  imagine  him  on  four  legs,  and 
found  out  as  well  as  we  could  where  in  those  slaugh- 
tered animals  the  bones   might   have  belonged. 

Then  neat,  fussy  little  Florence  took  some  clean 
paper,  a  pen  and  ink,  and  some  mucilage,  made  some 
labels  and  pasted  them  on.  Next  we  visited  a  car- 
penter. He  made  us  a  few  little  shelves.  We  set 
them  up,  covered  them  with  paper,  put  our  speci- 
mens on  them,  and  the  physiological  cabinet  formed 
quite  an  attractive  part  of  the  furniture  in  the  chil- 
dren's  room. 


CHAPTER    III. 


HOW    THE    BONES    ARE    JOINED    TOGETHER. 


AY  days  are  not  always  sun- 
shiny. The  summer  roses  need 
water  to  nourish  their  roots 
and  give  color  to  their  leaves. 
The  fruit  will  not  swell  and 
perfect  itself  without  the  warm 
spring   rain. 

I  tried  to  tell  these  things  to  Florence  and  Jack 
when  they  woke  up  Sunday  morning  to  find  cloudy 
skies  and  pouring  rain.  Monday  and  Tuesday  fol- 
lowed with  no  brighter  prospect.  Sunday  passed  very 
well,  for  by  means  of  the  carriage  we  got  to  church 
and  Sunday-school.  Monday  was  helped  through  by 
the  tool-box  and  the  doll-house,  story-books  and  puz- 
zles, but  by  the  middle  of  Tuesday  morning,  Jack 
had  lost  all  his  patience  and   Florence  was  whining. 

41 


42  HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  /Of NED    TOGETHER. 

Patient  Mary  was  sitting  in  the  room  with  them, 
sewing,  and  trying  to  be  company  for  them,  but  noth- 
ing did  any  good.  Each  one  of  them  stood  at  a 
window  looking  out,  on  the  drizzle,  drizzle,  drizzle, 
a  picture  of   wretchedness. 

"  I  wanted  to  row  to-day,"  said  Jack,  in  a  cross 
tone. 

"  Shure,  I  think  ye's  might  row  on  that  puddle 
there  under  the  window,  and  shwim,  too,  for  that 
mather,"  was  Mary's  quick  answer. 

"  I'll  row  on  you  and  pound  you,  too,"  was  Jack's 
naughty    reply. 

"  But  Feth  !  I'm  shure  thin  I'll  drowned  ye  with 
me    tears." 

"  I  wish  you'd  go  out  and  stop  teasing  us,"  said 
Florence,  breaking   into  a  "  boo-hoo." 

"  An'  is  it  tazin'  ye's  I  am,"  she  answered,  "  whin 
I've  been  mendin'  Jack's  kite,  and  sewin'  your  doll- 
clothes.  I'll  jist  go  and  find  another  little  gurrl 
liss   onpleasant   than   yersilf." 

"  Well,  good-by  to  you,"  said  cross  Jack  as  she 
went   out. 


HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  43 

I  opened  the  door  just  as  Mary  left  the  room. 
I  saw  a  gloomy  picture.  The  furniture  of  the  doll- 
house  was  on  the  floor,  the  puzzles  were  scattered 
in  every  direction.  Jack's  tool-box  was  lying  on  its 
side  empty,  and  Florence's  pet  doll,  the  one  with 
the  real  shoes  and  stockings,  was  lying  on  its  face 
in  the  corner.  The  owners  of  these  things  looked 
as  if  they   never  expected   to  be   happy  again. 

"  Florence,"  I  said,  speaking  sternly,  "  pick  up 
your  things  and  put  them  in  order;  Jack,  stop  your 
pouting  and  pick  up  your  tools ;  then  put  the  box 
in    its    place." 

"  That  old  Mary  O'Hara  can  do  it,"  snivelled 
Florence. 

"  Mary  O'Hara  will  not  do  it,"  I  answered.  "  You 
know  you  are  not  allowed  to  leave  things  out  of 
order." 

"  I  don't  want  to  do  it,"  began  Jack,  as  he  slowly 
went  to  work.  "  I  won't  play  with  my  tools  any 
more    if    I    have    to    put    them    away." 

I  do  not  like  to  tell  any  more  of  this  sad  con- 
versation.     It  ended   in    Jack's    being  shut   up  in   his 


44  HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

bedroom  and  Florence  severely  rebuked.  I  told  them 
as  I  left  the  room,  that  when  they  had  clean,  bright 
faces  and  their  playthings  were  in  order,  they  could 
come    to    me    in    my    room. 

I  knew  that  the  rainy  weather  was  tedious  to 
them  and  made  them  cross.  But  I  also  knew  that 
all  through  life  they  must  meet  cloudy  days  as  well 
as  bright  ones.  I  wanted  to  teach  them  that  noth- 
ing drives  away  weariness  like  a  contented  spirit. 

In  half  an  hour  the  door  to  my  room  slowly 
opened  and  two  little  forms  crept  sheepishly  in.  I 
looked  at  the  faces.  They  had  been  washed  and 
were  ready  to  look  happy  as  soon  as  I  said  they 
might  do  so.  I  was  ready  to  meet  such  faces  with 
a  smile,  and  the  children  were  soon  seated  by  me 
well-contented. 

"  O,  mamma  !  "  Jack  cried,  as  he  looked  out  of  the 
window.     "There's  some   blue   sky.     Hurrah,  boys!" 

Yes,  we  could  see  it  plainly ;  the  clouds  were  break- 
ing away. 

"  Chickies,"  I  said,  "you  know  in  three  days  it 
will    be    story-telling    Friday." 


HOW   THE  BONES   ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  45 

"  Yes,   sir,"   said   Jack.     "  I   wish    'twas   to-day." 

"  Well,  how  would  you  like  a  picnic  on  that  day," 
I   asked. 

"  Oh  !    lovely,"    said    Florence. 

Jack's  eyes  danced. 

A  picnic  did  not'  mean  to  Florence  and  Jack  what 
it  means  to  some  children.  It  did  not  mean  a  hot 
day  in  the  middle  of  summer,  a  long  ride  in  crowded 
cars  or  steamboat,  a  dinner  full  of  bugs  under  the 
trees,  and    a   tub   of   warm  lemonade. 

We  had  our  picnics  in  the  bright  days  of  spring, 
not  so  early  that  the  woods  were  damp,  and  not  so 
late  that  the  dust  of  summer  had  taken  the  fresh 
look  from  the  leaves.  We  loved  to  find  the  young 
wintergreens,  and  the  trailing  arbutus.  We  loved  to 
see  the  brooks  swelled  by  the  little  springs  that  were 
pouring  into  them  from  every  side.  They  rush  and 
plunge  along,  and  look  so  savage,  forming  tiny  water- 
falls over  the  stones. 

"Where    shall    we    go?"    said    Florence. 

"Shall  we  tell  our  story  in  the  woods?"  asked 
Jack. 


46         HOW  THE  BONES   ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

"Shall  we  have  something  to  eat?"  said   Florence. 

"  Oh  !  jolly,"  said  Jack,  hopping  up  and  down. 

"  What  would  you  say  to  'Curtis's  Woods,'  "  I  asked. 

"That's    just  the    place,"    answered  both  at  a  time. 

"  We  can  take  our  dinner  and  tell  our  story  there," 
I  went  on,  "  and  have  the  rest  of  the  day  for  find- 
ing moss   and    flowers." 

"  Shall    we    ride  or   walk  ? "    Jack    asked. 

"  We  shall  have  so  much  baggage  that  I  think 
John  will  have  to  take  us  in  the  democrat,"  I  an- 
swered. 

"Mamma,  can't  Hattie  and  Arthur  Harmon  go?" 
asked    Florence. 

"  How  would  they  like  our  story?"   I  asked. 

"  Oh  !  they  would  love  it,"  answered  Jack.  "  1  told 
Arthur  all  about  it,  and  he  found  me  one  of  my 
nicest  bones." 

"  Hattie  said  she  wished  her  mamma  could  tell  them 
one,  but  she  never  got  time,  she  had  to  work  and 
sew  so  hard  all  the  time,"  said  Florence.  "  Mamma, 
why  don't  you  have  to  sew  and  work  like  Mrs. 
Harmon  ?  " 


HOW   THE   BONES   ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  47 

"  Because,  my  dear,"  I  answered,  "  your  papa  has 
more  money,  and  I  can  give  the  sewing  and  work 
to  poor  people  who  need  it.  This  gives  me  more 
time    to    write    stories    for    you." 

"  That's  nice,"  answered  Jack.  "  I  wish  everybody 
had    it,  but    can    we    take    Hattie   and   Arthur?" 

"  Yes." 

"Can   I   go  and  tell   them  right  off?"  asked  Jack. 

"  No,  my  boy  ;  not  till  it  has  entirely  stopped 
raining." 

"  Suppose    it    rains    Friday,"    said    Florence. 

"  I    do   not   think    it  will." 

I  had  lived  long  enough  in  that  climate  to  know 
that  after  a  three  days'  storm  in  the  latter  part  of 
May  we  were  quite  sure  of  a  week  or  two  of  sun- 
shine. As  the  sky  was  plainly  clearing,  I  saw  that 
three  days  would  give  the  woods  time  to  dry.  Hat- 
tie   and   Arthur   were  told   in   good   time. 

Friday  morning  was  bright  and  clear,  and  more 
happy  faces  are  seldom  seen  than  those  of  the  four 
children.  Becky  came  along,  her  back  bending  with 
the    weight    of    the    lunch-basket    she    carried,   and    as 


48  HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

she  give  it  a  "  lift "  into  the  wagon  said,  with  a 
grin    of    satisfaction,  — 

"  Dar,  dem  chilluns  sh'n't  starve,  no  ways,  not  while 
dis  chile  lib." 

Mary  was  going  with  us,  and  it  was  a  large  load, 
even  for  the  big  democrat  with  three  broad  seats, 
but  John  had  put  two  horses  to  it,  and  we  squeezed 
in   and  were   off. 

"  Curtis's  Woods "  was  a  large,  open  forest  about 
a  mile  from  our  home.  Mr.  Curtis,  who  owned  it, 
had  cleared  away  the  underbrush,  but  left  the  old 
trees  and  moss-covered  logs  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 
villagers. 

There  was  no  better  place  to  find  spring  flowers 
and  ferns,  than  here,  and  we  all  agreed  that  a  more 
beautiful  spot  could  not  be  found  in  which  to  spend 
a  happy  day.  John  landed  us  in  the  woods,  and 
saw  our  baggage  safely  put  away.  Then,  agreeing 
to  return  for  us  at  half-past  five  in  the  afternoon, 
drove  off. 

It  was  half-past  nine  when  we  reached  the  woods, 
and  the  hour  and  a  half  until  eleven  passed  quickly. 


HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  49 

Mary  and  I  spent  it  in  arranging  my  table  and  speci- 
mens, and  the  children   in  finding  arbutus  and  violets. 

At  eleven  Mary  opened  Becky's  big  basket,  and 
no  sandwiches  and  cookies  ever  tasted  better  than 
those  eaten  under  the  elms  and  oaks  of  "  Curtis's 
Woods." 

But  the  children  were  fully  ready  for  the  story. 
Hattie  and  Arthur  were  as  interested  as'  the  others, 
and  we  all  began  work  in  earnest.  I  had  brought 
a  work-table  with  folding  legs.  This  held  our  large 
picture-books  nicely.  We  found  rocks,  and  with  the 
aid  of  camp-stools,  brought  from  home,  made  our- 
selves  comfortable. 

"  Who    knows  where  we    begin    to-day  ? "    I    asked. 

"  I  do,"  said  Jack.  "  We  find  out  how  the  bones 
are  put  together,  and  I'm  glad  of  it,  for  all  the 
week  I've  had  to  stop  running  every  little  while 
for  fear  mine  would  fall  apart.  It  seemed  as  if  I 
could  feel  them  getting  loose."  We  had  to  laugh  at 
him  a  little. 

"  Mrs.  Blake,"  said  Arthur,  looking  into  my  face 
with   earnest,    dark    eyes,    "  my    father    told    me    that 


5° 


HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 


the  bones  had  cushions  on  them  just  like  the  '  buffers ' 

on    engines." 

"  They   have,"   I    answered.     "  We'll  know  about  it 

soon,  if  you   all   keep  still.     After  I    begin,   you   may 

ask    your    questions    if   you   want    to. 

"  The  first  thing  we  will  talk  about  is  the  cushions 

that  Arthur  spoke  of. 
If  the  bones  rubbed 
against  each  other, 
when  they  move,  the 
ends  would  soon  wear 
off,  and  when  you  jump 
or  fall  the  shock  that 
the  bones  would  have 
in  hitting  against  each 
other  would  hurt  you, 
and  the  bones  would 
break.     On   the  end  of 


A  SECTION  OF  THE  RONES  AT  THE  HIP.  THE  CAR- 
TILAGE, WHICH  IS  MARKED  BY  AN  INTERRUPTED 
LINE,  IS  SEEN  BETWEEN  THE  BONES,  AND  FORMS 
A    SOFT    CUSHION    ON    WHICH    THEY    MOVE. 


every  bone  is  a  cushion  of  cartilage.  This  cartilage 
is  soft  and  elastic,  like  rubber.  So  you  can  see  that 
it  would  be  a  good  deal  like  two  soft  balls  hitting 
against  each  other." 


HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  51 

"  But,  mamma ! "  said  Florence,  "  I  should  think 
the  cartilage  would  wear  out  when  the  bones  rub 
against  each  other." 

"  It  would,  but  the  great  King  has  put  something 
else  there  that  prevents  it.  In  every  place  where 
the  bones  are  joined  there  is  a  white  liquid  like 
the  white  of    an  egg,  being  formed  all  the  time." 

"That  keeps  'em  oiled,  don't  it,  mamma,  just  as 
you    oil    your    machine  ? "    said    Jack. 

"  That's    exactly    right." 

"Well,  I  think  that's  fixed  about  as  nice  as  it 
could    be,"    said    Arthur. 

"Don't  you  think  it's  all  fixed  so,  Arthur  ? "  asked 
Jack. 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  he  answered ;  "  but  I  guess  I 
don't  know  about  the   rest   of    it  as  well  as    you  do." 

"  Now    for    the    joints." 

"  What  are  joints  ? "  asked  Hattie,  a  timid  little 
girl    of   nine. 

"  Joints  arc  the  places  where  the  bones  are  put 
together.  There  are  three  kinds  of  joints  in  the 
body.     Those   where  the    bones    don't   move   at   all  — 


52  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

we  find  some  of  these  in  the  large  bones  of  the  head ; 
those  where  the  bones  can  move  only  a  little  way,  as 
in  the  hands  and  feet,  and  those  where  they  can  move 
a  great  deal,  like  the  elbow  and  hip-joint." 

It  pleased  me  much  to  see  the  children.  Some 
of  them  were  wiggling  their  fingers,  some  of  them 
making  their  limbs  go,  and  Jack  looked  as  if  he 
were  ready  for  a  fight,  with  elbow  doubled  up,  and 
his  eyes  glowing. 

"  Let  us  talk  first  about  the  immovable  bones  in 
the  head.  The  edges  of  each  one  of  those  large  bones 
have  teeth  like  a  saw.  These  edges  are  fitted  closely 
into  one  another.  Then  the  lower  edge  of  one  bone 
comes  out  further  than  the  lower  edge  of  the  other. 
The  upper  edges  are  made  the  same  way,  so  the 
edges    are    what    carpenters    called    '  dovetailed.' ' 

We  had  to  think  and  talk  a  good  deal  before 
the  children  all  understood  this.  It  was  not  easy, 
and  I  promised  to  have  something  to  show  them  at 
the  next  lesson   that  would   help  them. 

"  I  don't  believe  my  head  will  come  to  pieces  any 
way,"    said    Jack,    "it    don't    feel    rickety." 


HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  53 

"  There  is  one  movable  bone  in  the  head ;  who 
can   tell    me   what    it    is  ? " 

"The  jaw,"    answered    Arthur. 

"Yes.  If  you  look  at  the  picture  of  the  jaw-bone 
you  will  see  two  round  humps  at  each  upper  end 
at  the  back.  These  have  cushions  of  cartilage  on 
them,  and  are  fitted  into  round  places  made  for  them 
in  the  bones  of  the  head.  These  round  places  are 
lined  with  cushions. 

"But  why  don't  the  jaw-bone  fall  out?"  asked 
Florence." 

"  Because    it    is    strapped    in." 

"  Look  close  at  the  picture,  and  you  will  see  on 
each  side  of  the  jaw  three  strong  straps  going  in 
different    directions   over    the   joint." 

"What  are  the   straps   made   of?"  asked  Arthur. 

"  Strong,  tough  fiber.  This  fiber  will  not  break, 
but  will  bend  and  stretch.  These  straps  are  called 
ligaments,  and    they    are    oiled    like    the    joints." 

One  would  have  thought  the  children  were  a  set 
of  bears  with  nothing  to  eat,  they  all  began  to 
move    their   jaws    so  fast. 


54  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

"  Now  about  the  strange  backbone.  This  back- 
bone isn't  one  bone  at  all,  but  many  different  ones. 
Children  have  thirty-three  bones  in  the  back,  grown 
people  twenty-four.  Some  of  the  end  bones  grow 
together  after  people  grow  older.  These  bones  are 
shaped  like  a  ring,  larger  on  the  inside,  and  with 
three  pieces  that  stick  out  on  the  back.  You  must 
look    at    your    picture    and    see  it." 

"What    are    the    holes    for?"  asked   Florence. 

"  They  hold  what  is  called  the  spinal  cord.  This 
comes  from  the  brain,  and  we  will  learn  about  it 
later    in    our   lessons." 

"  I  see  little  holes  at  the  side  of  the  backbone," 
said    Arthur,    "what    are    those    for?" 

"  Nerves  go  out  through  those.  These  bones  are 
joined  by  cartilage,  and  are  strapped  together  by 
four  sets  of  straps  lapping  over  each  other.  There 
is  one  set  of  the  straps  on  the  inside,  and  one  set 
on    the  outside  of  the  bones." 

"Do  you  mean  on  the  side  where  the  spikes  are?" 
said  Florence. 

"  No ;  the  other  side.     The   spikes  are  on  the  back 


HOW   THE   BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  55 


side    of    the    bone.       These    straps    are    on    the    front 
side." 

"What    are    the    spikes    for?"    asked    Jack. 

"To    fasten    the    muscles    to." 

"The  cartilage  lets  us  bend  our  backs,  doesn't  it?" 
said    Florence. 

"  Yes.  Now  the  top  one  of  these  backbones  is 
called  'the  atlas.'  Can  any  one  of  you  tell  why?" 
I  asked.  They  were 
all  silent  a  few  min- 
utes, then  Arthur  an- 
swered, thoughtfully. 


I    think    Atlas  was 


A,    THE  atlas;   d-d,  THE   "strap"    dividing    the 


the      name     Ot       a     giant  hole  in  two  parts ;  mt,  the  puces  where  the 

SKULL    RESTS  ;   C,  SPACE    FOR    THE   SPINAL    CORD  ,   6, 

that        D   e   O    D    1    e         USed        tO  SPACE     WHERE    THE    "BONE    LIKE    A    STICK"    GOES. 

"  *  B,  THE   SECOND    BONE;   b,  THE    PIECE   THAT    STICKS 

think    held    the    world       U™ASTICK 

on   his    back.     This    bone    holds    up    the    head,  and   I 

guess    that's    the    reason." 

"We  have  a  picture    of    Atlas    in  the  front  of    our 
geography,"    said    Jack. 

"Yes;   that  is  the  reason    of    the  name.     The  atlas 
and  the  second  one  of  the  backbones  are  formed  dif- 


56  HOW   THE   BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

ferently  from  the  others,  and  support  the  head.  The 
hole  in  the  atlas  is  larger  than  the  hole  in  the  other 
backbones.  This  hole  is  divided  into  two  parts  by 
a  strap.  The  second  bone  has  a  round  piece  on  it 
that  sticks  up  like  a  stick.  This  stick  goes  up 
through  the  front  hole  in  the  atlas,  and  is  strapped 
to  the  bottom  of  the  head.  It  makes  a  pivot  for 
the  head  to  turn  on,  and  is  fastened  in  all  ways, 
and   held   in   its  place  by  strong  straps." 

"What  goes  through  the    other    hole?"    said   Jack. 

"  The  spinal  cord  going  from  the  brain.  This  back- 
bone runs  down  to  a  little  point,  and  this  point  is 
fastened  tight  into  one  of  the  large  bones  at  the 
back  of  the  hip-bone.  It  is  held  securely  there  by 
straps." 

The  children  could  see  this  plainly  in  the  large 
picture  of  the  bone-man's  back  that  they  found  in 
the    Encyclopaedia   Britannica. 

"  Now  about  the  ribs.  These  are  fastened  with 
straps  to  the  back-bone.  In  front  they  end  in  strips 
of  cartilage.  If  you  look  at  the  picture  you  will 
see   that    seven    of    these    are    fastened   to   the   breast- 


HOW   THE   BONES   ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  $7 

bone,  and  five  are  not  fastened  at  all.  These  five 
are    called    '  floating    ribs.'  ' 

"Why  do  they  have  all  that  cartilage  in  them, 
mamma  ?  "   asked    Florence. 

"  Because  the  lungs  are  inside  of  the  ribs,  and 
the  lungs  grow  larger  when  they  are  full  of  air, 
so  the  ribs  have  to  stretch.  The  joints  where  the 
arm  is  fastened  to  the  shoulder,  and  the  one  where 
the  leg  is  fastened  to  the  hip,  are  called  '  ball 
and  socket  joints.'  Arthur  knows  about  balls  and 
sockets.  He  has  seen  them  in  his  father's  machine 
shop." 

"  O,  yes!    I    have,  too,"    said    Hattie. 

"  At  the  top  of  the  arm  is  a  large,  round  ball 
with  a  cushion  of  cartilage  on  it.  This  is  fitted 
into  a  large,  round  place  in  the  shoulder-bone.  It 
is  held  here  by  very  strong  straps,  and  can  move 
in  many  ways.  Why,  Jack?"  I  asked,  as  I  saw 
he    wanted    to    say    something. 

"  Because  it  is  a  ball,  and    can  wiggle  all  around." 

"  You  have  it.  The  elbow  and  knee-joints  are  like 
hinges.      The    bones    have    pieces    on    them    like    the 


58  HOW  THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER. 

parts  of  a  hinge,  and  are  strapped  together  so  that 
they  work  in  that  way." 

"  Well !  I'm  tighter  than  I  thought  I  was,"  said  Jack. 

"  The  knee-joint  is  covered  by  a  round  bone  called 
the  '  knee-pan.'  I  will  tell  you  of  this  when  we 
talk  of  the  muscles.  The  joints  of  the  leg  and  arm 
are  not  exactly  alike,  but  they  are  so  much  so  that 
this  is  all  it  is  necessary  to  learn  now.  The  small 
bones  in  the  wrist  and  hand,  and  those  in  the 
ankle  and  foot,  are  fastened  together  by  cartilage  and 
straps  so  that  they  can  make  all  the  movements  that 
are  necessary ;  and  don't  forget  that  the  joints  and 
straps  or  ligaments  are  being  oiled  all  the  time. 
But    this    is    enough    for    to-day." 

"  Mrs.  Blake,  it  makes  a  boy  feel  as  if  he  didn't 
amount  to  much,  when  he  finds  how  much  God 
can    think    of    that    he    can't,"    said    Arthur. 

"  I    hope    it    does,    Arthur." 

The  children  would  have  lingered  to  talk,  but  I 
did  not  think  it  best,  and  as  Mary  had  lunch  ready, 
we  went  to  work  at  that. 

I    do    not    need    to    say    much    of    the    after-dinner 


HOW   THE  BONES  ARE  JOINED    TOGETHER.  59 

pleasures.  They  can  be  imagined.  We  waded  in  the 
brooks,  we  dug  moss  and  ferns,  we  sailed  boats  on 
the  tiny  streams.  Above  all,  we  enjoyed  the  beauti- 
ful shade  of  the  trees.  Follow  us,  if  you  will,  on 
our  ride  home  as  the  sun  was  setting.  Hear  the 
children  tell  papa  the  pleasures  of  the  day,  and,  at 
last,  after  the  evening  prayer,  go  quickly  with  them 
to  the  land  of  dreams,  as  they  lay  their  tired  heads 
on  the  pillow. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


MUSCLES,    FAT    AND    SKIN. 


LITTLE  way  behind  our  home  there 
was  a  deep  ravine.  The  children 
had  named  it  "  The  Glen."  Its 
sides  were  steep  and  rocky,  but 
the  bank  leading  down  to  it  was 
divided  into  two  parts.  From  the 
top  one  could  easily  climb  down 
to  a  broad  grassy  plain ;  but,  from 
here,  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  was  reached  only 
by  a  narrow,  rocky  path. 

At  all  times  of  the  year,  except  in  the  spring,  the 
bed  of  the  ravine  was  dry.  Now,  a  narrow  stream 
rippled  over  the  rocks.  When  my  children  were 
younger  the  spot  had  been  a  terror  to  me.  Now  they 
had  grown  reasonable  and  sure-footed,  and  I  had 
ceased   to   be   anxious   about  it. 

60 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND    SKIN.  61 

Florence  and  Jack,  Arthur  and  Hattie,  playing  to- 
gether, one  morning,  a  day  or  two  after  our  last 
chapter  closed,  made  their  way  here. 

As  they  wandered  along  the  edge,  they  saw  peep- 
ing up  on  the  grass  plain  some  large  starry  daisies, 
the  first  of  the  year.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  run 
down  the  first  bank,  and  all  four  of  them  were  soon 
gathering    the    daisies    and    trimming    their    hats. 

Little  Hattie  was  not  quite  so  strong  and  sure- 
footed as  the  rest,  and  the  boys  generally  took  pleas- 
ure   in    watching    over    and     guiding     her     footsteps. 

To-day  she  had  picked  a  lap-full  of  daisies,  and 
seated  herself  on  the  ground  before  the  others  were 
ready  to  sit  down.  They  did  not  notice  her,  there- 
fore, until  they  heard  a  sharp  scream.  Looking 
around,  they  saw  that  the  ground  under  her  had 
broken  away,  and  that  she  was  falling  down,  down 
over  the    rocks,  into    the    stream    below. 

Arthur  and  Jack  looked  at  each  other,  their  faces 
white  with  terror.  Florence,  quick  as  thought,  climbed 
up  the  bank  and  ran  for  help.  The  boys  were  ter- 
ror-stricken only  for  a  moment.     One  sight  of  Hattie, 


62  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND  SKIN. 

lying  white  and  still  at  the  bottom,  decided  them 
what  to  do.  They  scrambled  quickly  down  the  rocky 
bank.     Hattie    was    not    lying    entirely    in    the    water. 

The  stream  was  narrow  and  not  deep.  No  more 
than  half  her  body  was  covered  by  it.  But  she  did 
not  speak  or  move.     Arthur    called  : 

"Hattie!  Hattie!     Can't   you    speak    to    us?" 

She    could    not    answer. 

The  boys  summoned  all  their  strength  and  cour- 
age. Together  they  lifted  her  out  of  the  water,  and 
began  to  make  their  way  to  some  place  where  it 
would  be  possible  to  climb  up  with  so  heavy  a  burden. 

It  was  well  that  Florence  had  found  other  help. 
She  had  run  to  the  stable  as  fast  as  her  feet  could 
carry  her.  Here  John  was  at  work.  Only  the  words, 
"  Hattie  has  fallen  down  the  Glen,"  were  needed  to 
take  the  strong  Irishman  with  great  strides  to  the 
place  of  the  trouble.  The  strength  of  the  brave  boys 
was  fast  giving  way.  John  leaped  over  the  first 
bank,  two  steps  took  him  down  the  second,  and  with 
the  gentleness  of  a  woman,  he  lifted  the  little  girl, 
and    carefully    brought    her    to    the    top. 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN.  63 

"  Bless  yer  dear  heart,"  he  said,  "  why  must  a  little, 
gintle,  tinder  plant,  like  yoursilf,  be  gittin'  into  sich 
trowble?  Florence,  go  for  yer  mother,  as  fast  as  ye 
can.'' 

She  did  not  need  the  command.  As  soon  as  she 
saw  that  Hattie  was  being  safely  carried  to  the  top, 
she  had  flown  for  me.  I  was  on  the  spot  almost  as 
soon  as  Hattie  was  laid  on  the  grass.  Bathing  her 
face  with  water  and  camphor,  and  giving  her  a 
swallow  of  wine,  we  brought  her  to  consciousness. 

Hattie's  home  was  not  far,  and  I  quickly  decided 
that  it  was  best  for  me  to  tell  the  story  to  her 
mother  before  the  little  girl  was  taken  home ;  leav- 
ing her,  therefore,  in  the  care  of  the  others,  I  has- 
tened   to    the    house. 

Mrs.  Harmon,  though  worn  by  care  and  anxiety, 
was  a  woman  of  strong  nerve  and  common  sense. 
The  heart-sinking  and  deadly  faintness  which  she  felt 
when  she  first  heard  my  story,  lasted  but  a  mo- 
ment, anil  very  quickly  she  was  preparing  the  bed 
for  her  little  daughter.  She  whispered  only  one  sen- 
tence in    my   ear : 


64  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN. 

"  Mrs.  Blake,  God  is  going  to  take  my  child,  Hat- 
tie;  she    is    too    pure    for   this    world." 

I  answered  nothing,  for  I  did  not  yet  know 
whether   to   hope   or  fear. 

I  went  back  to  the  Glen,  and  told  John  to  carry 
her  home.  As  he  lifted  her  she  moaned  and  be- 
came  unconscious   again. 

I  told  Jack  to  go  to  the  barn,  saddle  his  pony,  and 
gallop  for  the  doctor  as  fast  as  he  could.  He  was 
very  glad  to  have  something  to  do  for  his  playmate, 
and  it  took  him   only  a  few  moments  to  get  ready. 

In  half  an  hour  the  doctor  was  in  the  house. 
His  serious  look  as  he  saw  Hattie's  face,  still  and 
white  as  the  pillow  on  which  it  lay,  showed  me  that 
it  was  no  light  trouble.  His  examination  said  that 
the  collar-bone  was  broken  and  the  ankle  sprained. 
He    could    find    as    yet    no    trace    of    anything  else. 

The  bone  was  set  in  place  and  the  ankle  bound 
up.  Hattie  could  speak  to  us  a  little,  and  we  went 
home  to  lunch,  feeling  more  hopeful.  We  knew, 
however,  that  for  many  weary  weeks  she  must  lie 
still,  and  that,  perhaps,  much   pain  was  before  her. 


MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN.  65 

Fever  set  in,  and  for  a  few  days  we  felt  almost 
sure  that  our  little  friend  would  die.  But  she  was 
young.  The  doctor  was  skillful  and  watched  her 
carefully.  Mrs.  Harmon  and  I  nursed  her,  and  in 
a  week  we  could  see  that  she  was  getting  better. 

Arthur  could  not  be  kept  out  of  her  room,  but 
soon  his  pale  cheeks  told  us  that  he  must  stay 
away.  I  took  him  to  my  home  to  be  one  of  my 
children.  For  a  time  each  day  found  him  helping 
his  mother,  but  when  I  told  him  that  if  he  worked 
more  than  he  ought,  he  too  would  be  sick,  and  add 
to  his  mother's  care,  he  was  carefully  obedient  to 
every  command    I    gave    him. 

Story-telling  Friday  came,  but  I  had  been  so  con- 
stantly by  Hattie's  bedside  that  I  was  not  able  to 
do  the  necessary  work.  The  children,  too,  were  sad 
and  troubled,  and  we  decided  that  it  was  better  to 
pass  by  that  week  and  wait  until  the  next. 

The  next  week  found  our  little  girl  brighter  and 
better.  On  Thursday  she  drew  me  toward  her,  and 
begged  me  to  tell  the  story  the  next  day  by  her 
bedside.     The   doctor    said    it    would    "  do    her    good ; 


66  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN. 

get  her  mind  off  her  aches."  So  we  met  on  Fri- 
day around  a  table  by  her  bedside. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Jack,  "  it  seems  like  a  year  since 
that  lovely  day  in  the  woods." 

I  could  only  say,  "  Yes,"  for  I  knew  we  all  felt 
it.  But  we  must  begin  work,  and  it  did  not  take 
us    long  to   get    interested. 

"Mamma,  are  we  through  with  the  bones?"  asked 
Florence. 

"  Yes ;  the  teeth  are  bones ;  but  we  can  not  talk 
about  them  now.  We  shall  tell  about  the  covering 
of   the    bones    to-day.     Who   knows  what    it    is  ? " 

They  began  to  feel   of  themselves,  and   Jack  said : 

"  Skin    covers    the    bones." 

"  Yes  ;   and    what   else  ? " 

"  Fat    or    flesh    or    something,"    said   Arthur. 

"  Something,  certainly.  Perhaps  fat  and  flesh  ;  or, 
better,   flesh,   fat,   and  skin   cover  the   bones. 

"  In  the  first  place,  let  me  tell  you  that  flesh  is  the 
meat  that  you   find  in   animals,  and   meat   is   muscle." 

"  I    never    understood    about    muscle,"   said   Arthur. 

"  We'll   try    to    help    you    now." 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN.  67 

"  The  bones,  you  know,  can  be  moved,  but  they 
have  no  power  to  move  themselves.  The  muscles 
move    them." 

"  How  arc  the  muscles  fixed  ?  What  do  they 
look    like?"    asked    Florence. 

"  They  are  different  shapes,  but  they  are  all  much 
larger  in  the  center  than  they  are  at  the  ends.  The 
middle  part  of  the  muscle  is  made  of  red  meat. 
This  meat  is  full  of  fibers.  These  fibers  come  nearer 
and  nearer  together  until  at  the  ends  of  the  mus- 
cles they  are  so  close  together  that  they  become 
strong  cords  or  ropes.  These  ropes  are  the  tendons 
that   we   can   feel    in  our   wrists." 

"Why  are  they  called  muscles?  That's  a  •  funny 
name,"    said    Jack. 

"  There's  a  funny  reason  for  it.  There  is  a  Latin 
word  miiscuhis,  meaning  little  mouse.  People  used 
to  think  that  some  of  the  muscles  looked  like  little 
mice,  so  they  gave  them  the  name  muscle.  These 
ropes  are  fastened  into  the  bones  that  the  muscles 
are    going    to    move." 

"How    do    the    muscles    move?"   asked   Arthur. 


68  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN. 

"  They  draw  up." 

"Can  they  be  stretched  out  the  other  way?  "asked 
Florence. 

"  No ;  they  can  only  move  back  as  they  were  at 
first.  When  a  bone  needs  to  move  two  ways,  there 
is  a  muscle  on  each  side  of  it  to  move  it  each 
way." 

"  How  many  muscles    are    there  ? "  asked    Florence. 

"About    four    hundred,"    I    answered. 

"Mercy!"  said  Jack,  looking  with  surprise  over 
his   body. 

"  If  you  turn  a  few  pages  beyond  the  bone-man 
in  the  encyclopaedia,"  I  went  on,  "  you  will  see  a 
muscle-man ;  that  is,  a  man  with  nothing  but  mus- 
cles on  him.  If  you  look  close,  you  can  see,  espe- 
cially in  the  limbs,  the  shape  of  the  muscles.  You 
can  see  how  large  and  full  they  are  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  how  they  go  out  to  ropes  at  the  end.  The 
ropes  cannot  draw  up ;  all  the  power  lies  in  the 
middle  of  the  muscle." 

"  How  do  the  muscles  know  when  we  want  them 
to   move  ? "    asked    Jack. 


THE    MUSCLE-MAN. 


MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN.  71 

"  Nerves  go  down  into  them  from  the  brain,  and 
tell    them,"    1    answered. 

"  How  does  the  brain  know,  and  how  do  the 
nerves    know  ? "    asked    Jack    again. 

"  Jack,"  I  said,  "  we  must  leave  it  there.  God 
alone  can  tell  you  that.  Men  have  spent  their  lives 
in  trying  to  find  out,  but  one  after  another  have 
come  to  the  same  end  that  we  have  reached  to-day. 
They  don't  know.  I  shall  not  try  to  tell  you  how 
all  these  four  hundred  muscles  work.  Think  of  the 
thousand  movements  that  you  make,  and  you  will 
know  the  reason." 

"We  never  could  remember,  if  you  did  tell  us, 
could   we,   mamma?"   said    Florence. 

"  No.  One  thing  more  I  will  tell  you  about  them. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  muscles.  One  kind  that 
moves  when  we  want  them.  These  are  called  volun- 
tary muscles.  Another  kind  that  moves  whether  we 
want  them  to  or  not.  These  are  called  involuntary 
muscles.  The  voluntary  muscles  lie  in  our  hands, 
arms,  and  all  over  the  body.  These,  you  know,  we 
can  move  just  when    we  wish    to.      The    involuntary 


72  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN. 

muscles  are  such  muscles  as  the  heart,  and  those 
that  have  to  do  with  breathing.  This  kind  of  mus- 
cle works  in  the  stomach  when  we  digest  food. 
There    are    a   good    many    of    these." 

"  Why  don't  the  muscles  wear  out?"  asked  Arthur. 

"  They  have  blood-vessels  in  them,  and  are  being 
fed  with  blood  all  the  time.  But  we  will  leave  the 
muscles  now,  and  talk  about  the  fat  a  few  minutes. 
This  is  a  covering  for  the  muscles,  and  a  layer 
is  formed  over  the  muscle  and  under  the  skin. 
This  layer  is  much  thicker  in  some  persons  than 
in    others." 

"  O,  yes !  "  said  Jack ;  "  Arthur  and  Florence  are 
both   fatter  than    I   am.     What's   the  reason  ? " 

"  There  may  be  different  reasons.  More  of  your 
blood  may  be  needed  to  feed  the  muscles,  because 
your  muscles  are  stronger.  Or  more  may  be  needed 
to  feed  the  nerves.  We  cannot  always  tell  just  the 
reason." 

"  Do  you  find  fat  anywhere  else  in  the  body  ? " 
asked    Arthur. 

"  Some  on  the    organs    inside    of    the    body,"    I    re- 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN. 


73 


\ 


plied.  "  Fat  is  very  nice  to  pack  around  delicate 
organs,  and  to  cover  the  nerves  with.  It  is  used 
for  this.  You  all  know  how  it  looks  in  animals. 
If  you  look  at  it 
through  a  magnifying 
glass,  you  can  see  lit- 
tle cells  of  membrane 
filled  with  oil.  Fat  is 
all  made  up  of  these 
little  cells." 

We  sent  for  some 
beef  fat  and  our  glass, 
and  found  that  this 
was  true.  Next  we 
passed  on  to  the  skin. 

"  1  here     are     three     five  °*  the  little  cells  of  membrane  filled 

WITH    OIL.      GREATLY    MAUNIFID. 

layers  of    skin,"   I    be- 
gan.    "  The  layer  next  the  fat  is  called  the  true  skin. 
It    is    covered    with     little     points.       If    you    look    at 
the    inside    of    your    hand,    you     can     see    that    these 
little  points  lie  in    ridges." 

"What  are   the    points    for?"    asked    Florence. 


74 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN. 


"  The  nerves  come  into  them  and  divide  into  little 
bits  of  branches.  When  you  touch  anything  with 
your  body,  or  when  anything  touches  you,  these 
nerves    make    you   feel." 

"  Then  the    feeling    is    in    the    skin  ? "  said    Jack. 

"  Yes.  The  true  skin  is  covered 
by  two  more  layers  of  skin  that  are 
very  closely  joined  together.  These 
are  joined  so  closely  that  they  seem 
like  one." 

"  Do  they  have  feeling  points  in 
them?"    asked    Jack. 

"  No  ;  they  only  cover  the  true  skin." 
"  Is  it  thick  ?  "  asked  Florence. 
"  Much  thicker  in  some  places  than 
in  others,"   I  answered.     "  On  the  bot- 
tom   of    the    foot    and    on    the    inside 
of   the  hand  it  is  thicker  than  in  other 
places.     It  grows  hard  where  it  is   used.     The  skin  of 
a  working-man's    hand    is    almost    like    leather." 

"  Yes ;  and  baby's  skin  is  very  thin  and  soft,  isn't 
it  ?  "    said    Florence. 


Is* 

A 


SECTION  OF  THE  SKIN.  I, 
A  PORE  AT  THE  SURFACE 
OF  THE  SKIN  ;  g,  THE 
ORGAN  THAT  FORMS  PER- 
SPIRATION J  //,  THE  TUBE 
THAT  CONNECTS  THE 
ORGAN  WITH  THE  SUR- 
FACE OF  THE  SKIN. 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN.  75 

"Then,  too,  all  three  of  the  skins  are  full  of  little 
holes,  pores,  we  call  them.  These  do  a  great  deal 
of  work.  Under  the  skin  are  organs  that  form  per- 
spiration. This  perspiration  comes  out  through  these 
holes  and  keeps  the  skin  moist.  A  great  deal  of  im- 
purity goes    away  from    the  body  in    that  way." 

"  That  is  why  we  have  to  keep  clean,  isn't  it  ? " 
said    Jack. 

"  Yes.  This  impurity  has  to  be  washed  off,  as 
well  as  the  dirt    that    comes  on  from  the  outside." 

"  I  should  think  things  would  go  into  the  body 
that    way,  too,"    said    Arthur. 

"That  is  just  what  they  do.  People  that  are  very 
sick,  and  cannot  swallow,  are  sometimes  kept  alive 
a    long  time  by  being  bathed  in   beef  tea." 

"  That's  funny,"  said  Jack.  "  It  goes  in  through 
the    holes." 

"  What  makes  some  people  black  and  some  peo- 
ple   white  ?  "    asked    Arthur. 

"  In  the  second  skin  are  little  holes  that  are  filled 
with  dark-colored  matter  in  colored  people.  Indians 
are  copper-colored,  you   know,  and  negroes  black." 


76  MUSCLES,   FAT  AND   SKIN. 

"  I  always  used  to  think  it  would  wash  off,"  said 
Arthur. 

"Mamma,  what  is  the  tongue  made  of?"  said 
Jack.     "  There  are  not  any  bones  in   it." 

"  No ;    it    is    muscle." 

"  Well,  what  makes  it  red  ? "  he  went  on.  "  It's 
covered    with    skin,    isn't    it  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,   what    color    is   the    skin  ? "    he    asked. 

"  It  is  clear,  without  color,  and  shows  the  colors 
under   it." 

"  O,  yes ! "  said  Jack ;  "  and  the  tongue  is  the 
color  of  the  red  muscle.  The  color  of  the  body 
looks  mixy,  doesn't  it?  The  color  of  the  fat  and  the 
muscle    together." 

"  Yes  ;  it    is    mixy." 

But    the    dinner-bell    called    us    away. 

Hattie  had  lain  quiet  during  the  lesson.  Once  or 
twice  she  had  tried  to  ask  a  question,  but  I  had 
gently  placed  my  hand  over  her  lips.  When  the 
children  had  gone  out,  and  I  was  gathering  up  my 
things,  she  drew  me  toward    her. 


MUSCLES,    FAT  AND   SKIN.  77 

"  Auntie,"  she  said,  for  she  had  given  me  this 
name  since  she  had  been  sick,  "  Jack  has  told  me 
about  the  '  Great  King,'  and  how  much  he  loves  us. 
Last  week,  when  I  thought  I  was  going  away  from 
you  all  to  live  with  him,  I  wasn't  afraid,  for,  when 
I  looked  at  my  body,  and  saw  how  wonderful  it  was, 
and  when  I  knew  he  had  made  it  for  me,  a  little 
bit  of  a  girl,  I  was  sure  he  loved  me,  and  that  I 
should  go  right  to  his  arms." 

"  He  will  gather  the  lambs  in  his  bosom,"  I  mur- 
mured, and  with  a  long  kiss  on  her  forehead,  I 
left  her. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ORGANS  THAT  TAKE  CARE  OF  BLOOD. 

IKE  all  children,  Jack  enjoyed  the 
hay-loft.  It  was  a  large,  airy  room, 
and,  when  not  full  of  hay,  was  a 
good  place  for  circuses  and  wonder- 
ful shows,  which  he  and  Arthur  fixed 
up.  These  shows  seemed  remarkable 
to  Florence  and  Hattie,  and  the  other  children  in 
the  neighborhood.  Just  now  there  was  enough  hay 
in  it  to  make  it  a  good  hiding-place  for  the  hens, 
and  each  day  Jack  enjoyed  his  search  for  eggs. 
He  was  busy  at  this  one  morning  when  he  heard 
John  at  work  below,  humming  an  old  Irish  tune. 
"  O,    John  !  "    he    called. 

"An'    is    it  yersilf,    Jack,    that's    up    there?"   John 
answered. 

"Yes,    it    is,"    called    Jack;    "and    I've    found    old 

78 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.         79 

Brownie.  She's  setting  up  here  on  eleven  eggs.  She's 
got   her   nest  clear   back   behind  an  old   beam." 

Just  then  a  "  cackle,  cackle,  cackle,"  told  John  that 
Brownie  was  disgusted  at  being  pulled  off  to  have 
her   eggs  counted. 

"  Och,  the  rascal,"  said  the  Irishman,  climbing  the 
ladder  leading  to  the  loft;  "  din't  she  know  that  no- 
body intinded  to  have  her  a-sottin'?  I'd  like  to 
wring    the    nick    off    her." 

Jack  knew  John  well  enough  to  feel  sure  that 
Brownie  would  not  be  badly  treated,  and  he  said, 
"  Well,    some    chickens,  that's    all." 

"  Yis,"  said  the  Irishman,  "some  more  chickens; 
but  it  warn't  the  chickens  we  were  afther,  'twas 
Brownie's  iggs.  We  got  a  plinty  o'  chickens."  With 
this,  he  gave  Brownie  a  hard  cuff  and  pulled  her 
off  her  nest.  Shaking  her  a  little,  he  looked  first 
at  the  eggs  and  then  at  her,  but  ended  by  saying : 
"  Och  !  ye  might  as  well  go  back  ag'in.  It's  three  days 
sence    ye    been  missin's ;    yer    iggs    are  spilt  intirely." 

Brownie,  glad  of  the  permission,  settled  back  con- 
tentedly. 


8o         THE   ORGANS   THAT   TAKE   CARE  Ob   BLOOD. 

"How  many  iggs  have  ye  got,  Jack?"  said  John, 
looking    into    Jack's    basket. 

"Nine,"  answered  Jack;  "I've  been  to  all  the 
nests." 

"  Well,  ye  bether  come  down  now,"  said  John, 
leading    the    way    down    the    ladder. 

Jack  waited  for  John  to  go  down,  and  then,  hand- 
ing down  the  basket,  followed.  John  and  Jack  were 
good  friends.  When  not  too  busy,  the  good-natured 
Irishman  listened  patiently  to  Jack's  string  of  ques- 
tions, and  answered  them  as  best  he  could.  This 
always    made    a    path    to    Jack's    heart. 

"John,"  said  Jack,  as  he  saw  the  man  sitting  down 
on  a  broken-backed  chair,  to  mend  a  piece  of  har- 
ness, "  did  you  know  that  all  your  flesh  was  mus- 
cle,  fastened    to    your    bones    by  ropes  ? " 

"That  I  didn't,"  said  John;  "won't  ye  tell  me 
about  it  now  ?  " 

"  Oh !  the  middle  part  of  your  muscle  draws  up, 
and  the  rope  pulls  the  bones  along.  That's  the  way 
you  move  your  legs  and  arms,  and  everything,"  an- 
swered   Jack. 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OE  BLOOD.         81 

"  Now,  that's  quare,"  said  John ;  "  why  ain't  they 
a-dra\vin'  up  all  the  time,  thin,  and  kapin'  the  bones 
a-goin'  ?  " 

"  Because,"  answered  Jack,  "  something  inside  your 
head    don't    tell    them    to." 

"  Och  !  that's  it,  is  it  ?  "  answered  Jonn.  "  Well, 
it's  a  shmart  b'y  ye  are,  any  way.  Ye'll  be  a  doc- 
ther    one    day,    shure." 

"  May  be  so,"  answered  Jack,  as  he  sauntered  off 
down    toward    the    lake. 

He  felt  a  little  lonely  this  morning.  Arthur  was 
reading  to  Hattie,  and  Florence  was  practicing.  He 
missed  Hattie.  In  her  gentle  way,  she  was  a  rest 
to  his  nervous  impulsiveness,  and  to  her  he  was 
the  ideal  of  all  that  was  brave  and  manly.  She 
would  sit  contented  for  a  long  time  while  he  told 
her  about  the  engines  that  he  would  buy  when  he 
had    worked    and    saved    a    million    dollars. 

He  told  her  how  he  would  have  a  nice  place 
for  her,  so  that  they  could  ride  all  over  the  world 
and  see  the  steamboats  and  the  oceans  and  all  the 
wonderful    things.     Thus   in    her  dear   little  heart  she 


82         THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE  CARE   OF  BLOOD. 

was  forming  a  fairy-land,  of  which  Jack  was  the 
presiding  genius. 

To-day  he  sat  down  on  the  bank  of  the  lake. 
He  scarcely  noticed  the  ducks  waddling  about,  or 
swimming  quietly  in  the  water.  He  was  thinking 
of  her.  The  doctor  said  that  before  long  she  could 
be  carried  out  under  the  trees.  He  wished  the  time 
would  come.  He  wished  he  could  do  something  for 
her,  something  big,  not  just  little  things  like  reading 
to  her  or  carrying   her  flowers. 

The  sight  of  the  boat  anchored  near  made  him 
think  that  perhaps  she  would  like  a  nice  trout  for 
breakfast.  Jack  had  a  fishing-pole  upstairs.  His 
uncle  had  given  it  to  him.  He  had  never  used  it. 
He  was  too  young  to  know  much  about  fishing, 
and,  as  I  thought  it  a  little  cruel  to  catch  the  pretty 
shiners  just  for  fun,  I  had  never  said  much  about 
it.  With  Jack  to  think  was  to  act.  In  five  min- 
utes he  had  rushed  upstairs,  got  his  pole,  climbed 
into  the  boat,  and  was  rowing  with  all  his  might 
toward  the  other  side  of  the  lake. 

There  were   just   as    many  fish  on  our  side   of   the 


THE  ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.         83 

lake  as  on  the  other,  but  this  must  be  a  surprise 
to  every  one.  The  distance  was  soon  passed  over. 
It  did  not  occur  to  Jack  until  he  had  nearly  reached 
the  other  side  that  he  had  left  the  anchor  on  the 
shore,  and  that  he  had  no  bait. 

"  Well,"  he  thought,  "  I'll  pull  the  boat  on  to 
the    bank,  and    dig    some    worms    over    there." 

He  reached  the  other  side  safely,  jumped  out  and 
pulled  the  boat  on  to  the  bank  about  half-way  out 
of  the  water.  Then  taking  out  his  jack-knife,  he 
dug  some  angle-worms.  Jack  did  not  know  that 
our  dear  little  lake  had  never  seen  a  trout,  and  that 
if  it  had  the  trout  never  would  have  come  to  eat 
an    angle-worm. 

A  "  trout  for  breakfast "  sounded  nice,  so  Hattie 
must    have    one. 

It  made  him  a  little  sick  to  put  the  wriggling 
worm  on  the  hook,  but  he  mastered  it,  and  hope- 
fully threw  his  line  into  the  water. 

Half  an  hour  he  sat  there  fishing.  The  cork  would 
bob  up  and  down  with  the  waves.  Once  in  a  while 
the  hook  would    catch    in    some    sea-weed  at  the  bot- 


84         THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 

torn,  and  pull  the  cork  down.  Jack  would  pull  up 
the  hook  with  a  jerk,  sure  he  had  a  fish.  But 
each  time  he  was  disappointed. 

At  last  a  bite !  Up  came  a  shining  little  perch. 
It  rather  frightened  Jack.  It  wiggled  so.  He  did 
not  know  exactly  what  to  do  with  it.  But  he  got 
it  off  the  hook,  and  carefully  laid  it  on  the  grass 
beside    him. 

Now  he  must  catch  another,  just  one  more.  That 
was  a  little  one ;  perhaps  he  could  get  a  bigger  one. 
Another  half-hour  of  waiting,  and  he  drew  up  one 
about  half  as  big  as  the  first. 

"  Bother  !  "  he  thought.  "  They  don't  seem  to  come 
very  fast." 

He  took  off  the  fish  to  lay  it  beside  its  brother. 
Lo  and  behold  !  its  brother  wasn't  there.  Finding  it- 
self free,  the  fish  had  wiggled  into  the  water  again. 
Jack  was  discouraged,  but  with  a  string  he  made 
this  fish  fast  to  a  stick,  and  stuck  the  stick  into 
the    ground. 

Just  as  he  was  baiting  his  hook  again,  in  a  tired 
way,  he  looked  around,  and  the  boat  —  oh!  the   boat. 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.        85 

There  it  was  quietly  drifting  down,  down  with  the 
current.     Jack's    temper    got    the    bitter  of    him. 

"  Oh  !  oh  !  oh  !  you  hateful  thing  !  "  he  screamed, 
jumping  up  and  down. 

An  hour  in  the  hot  sun  had  tired  him  out,  and, 
throwing  himself  on  his  face  in  the  grass,  he  burst 
out  crying. 

After  he  had  cried  a  few  minutes  he  felt  better, 
and  began  to  think  what  to  do.  Acting  quick  as  a 
flash  again,  he  threw  off  his  jacket  and  plunged  in 
to  swim  after  the  boat.  He  soon  reached  it,  and 
climbed  in.  The  oars  lay  inside,  and  he  rowed  back. 
He  picked  up  his  jacket  and  his  fish.  He  had  forgot- 
ten to  take  off  his  hat,  so  that  had  sailed  away  on  the 
lake.     He   now  rowed  with  all  his  strength  for  home. 

I  had  just  sent  Mary  to  search  for  him,  when 
the  soaking  wet  boy,  without  any  hat,  holding  in 
his  hand  one  small  fish,  hanging  to  a  string,  en- 
tered the  room.  He  had  forgotten  his  pole  and  left 
it    on    the    other  side    of   the    lake. 

"  What  have  you  there,  Jack,"  I  said ;  "  and  where 
on    earth    have    you    been  ? " 


86         THE   ORGANS    THAT  TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 

"  I've  got  a  trout  for  Hattie's  breakfast,"  he  said,  half- 
laughing  and  half-crying  ;  "  I   caught  it  in  the  lake." 

He  then  told  his  story.  Later  in  the  day,  when 
he  was  dried  and  rested,  I  told  him  that  he  must 
never  do  it  again,  without    coming    first    to    me. 

I    think    he    learned    the    lesson. 

The  next  day  was  Friday.  We  met  for  the  sec- 
ond time  in  Hattie's  room.  Her  dear  little  face 
looked  a  good  deal  more  natural  than  last  week. 
Its  roses  were  coming  back.  The  little  shiner  had 
been  cooked  for  her  breakfast,  and  she  cast  loving, 
grateful  looks  at  Jack,  as  we  seated  ourselves  around 
the  table. 

"Mamma,  I've  been  trying  to  think  what  you  will 
tell    us    about    to-day,"    said    Florence. 

"Well,"  I  answered,  "what  is  it  that  I  have  told 
you  keeps  all  the  bones,  muscles  and  skin,  alive  and 
growing  ?  " 

"  Blood,"    answered    Arthur. 

"  Yes.  We'll  say  something  about  blood  to-day, 
or  rather  the  organs  inside  the  body  that  take  care 
of    the    blood." 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.         87 

"  Mamma,  can't  I  stick  a  needle  in  me  just  for 
a    drop    of    blood    to    look    at?"    asked    Jack. 

"  No ;  you've  seen  it  a  great  many  times ;  keep 
still,  and  listen  to  me  a  minute.  Inside  of  the  ribs 
there  is  a  flat  muscle  that  divides  the  hollow  place 
inside  into  two  parts,  an  upper  part  and  a  lower 
part.  The  muscle  has  a  long  name.  It  is  called 
the  diaphragm.  We  don't  learn  many  hard  names, 
but   I   think    you    had    better    learn    this   one." 

They  repeated  it  after  me,  and  soon  learned  it. 
We  then  found  a  picture  of  this  flat  muscle  in 
our  books.  It  is  curved  so  that  the  back  of  it  is 
fastened  to  the  bony  wall  a  good  deal  lower  down 
than  the  front.  The  part  above  the  flat  muscle  is 
called  the  chest.  The  lower  part  is  called  the  ab- 
domen. 

"The  lungs  are  in  the  chest,  are  they  not?"  said 
Arthur. 

"Yes;    the    chest   holds    the    lungs    and    the   heart." 

"We  breathe  through  the  lungs,  don't  we?"  said 
Hattie. 

"  Yes." 


88 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 


"Mrs.    Blake,"    said    Arthur,    "I've    been    trying    to 

think   why  we    have   to    breathe.     The    air    just    goes 

in   and    out    again." 

"  Wait    a    little    and    you    shall    know.      I    want   to 

tell  you  about  the 
lungs  first.  In  the 
back  part  of  your 
throats  are  two  hol- 
low pipes.  You 
swallow  your  food 
through  one.  That 
leads  to  the  stomach. 
The  other  carries  air 
to  the  lungs.  This 
pipe  is  called  the 
windpipe." 

"  Things    get  into 

the    windpipe    when     they    almost    choke    us,    don't 

they?"    said    Jack. 

"  Yes ;    but    the    windpipe    has    a    little    door,    made 

of    muscle,  that  does    not    often    let    things   go  down. 

When    this    pipe    gets    down    a    little    way   it    divides 


\.aL 

DIAGRAM  OF  THE  POSITIONS  OF  ORGANS  IN  THE  NECK 
AND  CHEST.  M,  THE  MOUTH  ;  67,  THE  OPENING  INTO 
THE    LARYNX;      Tr,    THE     TRACHEA;     LL,     LEFT    LUNG; 

RL,  right    lung;    Br,   bronchial    tubes;    H,  the 
heart;  D,  the  diaphragm. 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.        89 

into  two  other  pipes.  One  pipe  leads  to  the  left 
lung,  the  other  to  the  right  lung.  When  these  pipes 
reach  the  lungs,  they  divide  into  a  great  many  little 
tubes ;  and,  finally,  into  little  bags,  called  air-cells. 
Each  lung  is  divided  into  different  parts,  called  lobes. 
The  left  lung  has  two  lobes.  The  right  lung  has 
three.  Each  one  of  these  lobes  is  filled  with 
branches    of    the   windpipe    and    with    air-cells." 

"  Doesn't  the  trachea  have  something  to  do  with 
the    windpipe?"    asked    Arthur. 

"  Yes.  Now,  so  that  when  you  hear  the  names, 
larynx,  trachea,  and  bronchial  tubes,  you  will  know 
what  they  mean,  I  will  tell  you  that  the  larynx  is 
the  beginning  of  the  windpipe.  Then  the  wind- 
pipe is  called  the  trachea,  until  it  divides  into  two 
parts.     After  that  it  is   called  the  bronchial  tubes." 

"  Is  there  anything  else  in  the  lungs  ?  "  said  Florence. 

"  Yes  ;  I'll  tell  you  about  it  presently.  These  air- 
cells  and  tubes  are  all  shut  up  in  a  bag  made  of 
very  tough  skin.  This  skin  is  lined  with  a  smoother, 
softer  skin.  The  bag  is  called  the  pleura.  You  see 
we  have  a  good   many  hard  words  to-day." 


go 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OE  BLOOD. 


M  T.K 


TV 


"Yes'm,"  said  Arthur;  "but  I've  heard  almost  all 
of  them,  and  didn't  know  what  they  meant.  Don't 
people  have  pleurisy  ?  " 

"Yes;  pleurisy  is  a  disease  of  this  membrane. 
This  membrane  lies  close  to  the  ribs,  the  breast- 
bone and  the  backbone. 
The  lungs  take  up  the 
larger  part  of  the  chest, 
but  they  leave  room  for 
the   heart." 

We  studied  our  pict- 
ure of  the  lungs  now, 
so  that  we  could  under- 
stand  about    them,   and 

THE  HEART,  LUNGS  AND  OTHER  ORGANS.  RV,   THE  ,              .        -  ,     , 

RIGHT    VENTRICLE;    RA,    THE     RIGHT     AURICLE:  tHCn     SpOKC     OI  \.l\(t     neaTt. 
LV,  THE    LEFT    VENTRICLE  ;   LA,  THE  LEFT  AURI- 
CLE ;  rl,  the  right  lunt,  .LL.  Tn  v.  left  lung  ;  "Mamma,"  said  Flor- 

T,  TRACHEA. 

ence,  "  next  time  Becky 
cleans  a  chicken,  can't  I  ask  her  for  its  lungs  and 
its    windpipe  ?  " 

"  I'll  be  glad  to  have  you,  and  it  will  help  you 
to  understand  about  it,  if  you  look  at  it.  The 
heart,"  I  said,  "  is  a  large  hollow  muscle.     It  is  divided 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.        91 

by  a  wall  of  muscle  into  two  sides ;  each  of  these 
sides  is  divided  by  another  wall  into  two  parts ;  an 
upper  part  and  a  lower  part.  The  two  sides  do 
not  open  together,  but  there  is  a  door  that  opens  be- 
tween the  upper  part  and  the  lower  part  of  each  side." 

"Why  is  the  heart  divided  so?"  asked   Florence. 

"The  right  half  of  the  heart  holds  impure  blood, 
the    left    half    pure    blood,"    I    answered. 

"I low    does    it    do    it?"    asked    Jack. 

"  The  impure  blood  starts,"  I  said,  "  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  right  side  of  the  heart.  This  part  of 
the  heart  is  called  the  right  auricle.  People  have 
given  it  the  name  because  they  thought  it  looked 
like  the  ear  of  some  animals.  From  this  auricle 
it  goes  through    a   door  into   the    lower  right  side." 

"  What  is  the  name  of  the  lower  right  side  ? " 
asked    Florence. 

"  That    is    called   the    right    ventricle." 

"  What    does    that    word    mean  ? "    asked    Jack. 

"It    merely    means    opening." 

"How  does  the  impure  blood  get  pure?"  asked 
Arthur. 


92 


THE   ORGANS    THAT  TAKE  CARE   OF  BLOOD. 


a  diagram  showing  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
the  arrows  indicate  the  course  of  the  blood, 
lymph  and  chyle.  la,  left  auricle;  l  v,  left 
ventricle;  Ao,  the  great  artery;  Ai,  arteries 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  body  ;  a2,  arteries  to 
the  lower  part  of  the  body;  ha,  the  artery 
which  supplies  the  liver  with  part  of  its  rlood  , 
v\,  veins  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body  ;  v2,  veins 
of  the  lower  part  of  the  body  ;  ra,  right  auri- 
CLE ;  R V,  right  ventricle;  Lg,  lung;  Ly,  lymphat- 
ics ;  Lr,  liver  ;  PA,  the  artery  that  goes  to  the 
lungs;  PV,  the  vein  that  brings  the  blood  back 

FROM  THE  LUNGS. 


"  Now,  I'll  answer 
this  question  and  the 
other,  about  why  we 
breathe,  together. 
We  breathe  to  make 
the  blood  pure." 

"Is  that  all  we 
breathe  for?  "  said 
Florence. 

"  From  the  right 
ventricle  the  blood  - 
it  is  impure,  you  re- 
member —  flows  into 
a  large  tube  that 
leads  to  the  lungs. 
When  this  tube 
gets  to  the  lungs  it 
divides  into  very 
many  little  bits  of 
tubes  called  capilla- 
ries. These  tubes  run 
into    the    lungs,    and 


THE   ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 


93 


lie  all  around  by  the  side  of  the  air-cells.  The  im- 
pure blood  flows  through  these  capillaries.  The  skin 
of  the  air-cells  is  very  thin,  and  the  skin  of  the 
capillaries  is  very  thin,  too  ;  so  the  blood  can  easily 
draw    from    the     air    whatever     it    wants    to    make    it 


'aiu 


"doors"  in  the  heart  as  seen  from  below.    RAV,  door  between 

THE  RIGHT  AURICLE  AND  THE  RIGHT  VENTRICLE;  LAV,   DOOR  BE- 
TWEEN THE  LEFT  AURICLE  AND  THE  LEFT  VENTRICLE. 

pure ;  and  it  can  give  to  the  air  the  impure  gas 
that    is    in    it." 

"What  does  it  get  from  the  air,  mamma?"  asked 
Jack. 

"A   gas    called    oxygen,    and     it     throws     into    the 


94 


THE    ORGANS    THAT   TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 


air  another  gas  called  carbonic  acid  gas.  When  the 
blood  goes  into  the  lungs  it  is  almost  black  in 
color,  but  when  it  leaves  the  lungs  it  is  bright 
red." 

"How    does     it     get    out     of     the    lungs?"    asked 

Arthur. 

"  All  the  capillaries 
come  together  again 
into  a  large  tube,"  I 
answered,  "  and  carry 
the  pure  blood  out 
into  the  left  auricle  of 
the  heart ;  that  is,  the 
left  upper  side.  From 
"doors"  of  the  heart  as  seen  from  above:  pa,    here  it  flows  throu°"h 

DOOR  TO  THE  ARTERY  LEADING  TO  THE  LUNGS  ;  RAV, 

DOOR   BETWEEN    RIGHT  AURICLE    AND    RIGHT  VENTRI-  ~,        HoOT        1  tl  tO         thf        left 

CLE;    LAV,  DOOK    BETWEEN    LEFT   AURICLE  AND  VEN- 

TRICLE  lower  side,  or  left  ven- 

tricle. From  here  it  flows  out  through  a  large  tube 
all  over  the   body." 

"Does  this  one  big  tube  go  everywhere?"  asked 
Jack. 

"  No ;    it  divides  into    many  smaller    tubes.     These 


THE  ORGANS    THAT  TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD.         95 

smaller  tubes  divide  into  capillaries,  and  all  the  mus- 
cles, bones,  skin,  and  large  organs  of  the  body  are 
filled  with  a  network  of  them." 

"  Does  the  blood  get  impure  again  ? "  asked  Flor- 
ence. 

"  Yes ;  it  gives  to  each  organ  that  which  will 
feed  it,  and  gathers  a  great  deal  of   impure  matter." 

"  How  does  the  bad  blood  get  back  ?  "  asked  Hattie. 

"  By  more  tubes.  These  capillaries  all  come  to- 
gether again  into  large  tubes,  and  these  tubes  carry 
the  blood  back  through  the  right  side  of  the  heart 
to    be    made    pure    as    before." 

"So  it  keeps  going  all  the  time,  doesn't  it?"  said 
Jack. 

"  Yes." 

"Just   where    is    the    heart    put?"   asked    Florence. 

"  Between  the  lungs,  nearer  the  left  side  than  the 
right,  but  almost  in  the  middle.  The  lungs  partly 
cover  it.  Like  the  lungs,  it  is  covered  by  a  skin 
or  membrane.  But  this  is  enough  for  to-day,"  I 
said,  as  I  saw  the-  children  looked  tired  and  ex- 
cited. 


96         THE  ORGANS    THAT  TAKE   CARE   OF  BLOOD. 

"  I  believe  this  is  the  funniest  lesson  we've  had 
yet,"  said  Jack,  as  they  went  out ;  "  to  think  of 
that  red  stuff  running  through  me,  and  through  me, 
and    through    me,  like    that." 

I  gathered  up  my  papers,  kissed  Hattie,  and  went 
home    to    dinner. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE    BLOOD    AND    THE    WAY    IT    GOES    AROUND. 


p^    WISH    I     could    make    you    know 
my   daughter    Florence. 

I  can  see  her  now  as  she 
ran  up  the  gravel  walk  that  June 
day.  Her  golden  hair  was  soft, 
silky  and  wavy.  It  fell  over  her 
shoulders  and  glistened  in  the 
sunlight.  Her  eyes  were  blue ;  not  dark,  but  clear. 
Her  skin  was  fair,  and  there  was  a  pink  tinge  on 
her  cheeks.  Her  nose  turned  up  too  much,  and  her 
mouth  was  too  demure  in  its  expression.  These 
were  the  only  faults  in  face  or  figure.  But  these 
words  describing  her  appearance  can  tell  you  noth- 
ing of  the  spirit  within  her,  neither  can  they  make 
you  understand  the  common-sense  which  was  a  part 
of  her  character.     She  did  not  do  foolish   things. 

97 


98      THE  BLOOD  AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND. 

No  one  t  could  get  the  knots  out  of  Jack's  kite- 
strings  so  well  as  Florence.  Hattie  must  consult 
Florence  about  every  new  doll's  toilet.  Even  Arthur, 
though  older  than  Florence,  would  often  run  over 
to  have  a  button  sewed  on  or  a  book  covered. 
Florence  had  faults,  but  she  was  steadily  trying  to 
conquer    them. 

This  June  morning  was  warm,  but  the  shade  of 
our  elm-trees  was  broad,  and  the  yard  looked  cool 
and  inviting.  I  sat  by  my  window  and  watched 
Florence  as  she  walked  rapidly  up  the  path.  She 
looked  much  excited,  and  not  waiting  to  come 
through  the  door,  stepped  into  my  room  through 
the    window    which    opened    on    to    the   porch. 

"  O,  mamma ! "  she  said  in  an  excited  way,  "  I 
was  down  at  the  gate  a  minute  ago  and  what  do 
you  suppose  I  saw  ?  There  is  a  woman  lying  there. 
I  don't  know  whether  she  is  asleep  or  dead,  some- 
thing is  the  matter.  Sitting  by  her  is  the  loveliest 
boy  you  ever  saw.  He  has  light  hair  and  big  blue 
eyes.  He  looked  at  me  and  said,  —  'I  tan't  wake 
my    mamma    up,    and    I'z    hung'y.' 


FLORHSCH. 


THE   BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES   AROUND.    lor 

"It  made  me  cry  to  look  at  him.  I  told  him 
to  wait  a  minute  and  I  would  get  him  something, 
and  I  ran  to  you  as  fast  as  I  could.  What  shall 
we  do  ? " 

I  told  her  to  get  some  bread  and  butter  and 
fresh  milk,  and  we  started  for  the  gate.  They  were 
there  as  Florence  had  left  them.  The  woman  was 
quite  young,  with  a  sweet  sad  face.  Her  clothes 
showed  that  she  was  poor,  but  they  were  neat  and 
tastefuly   made. 

She  lay  under  one  of  the  elm-trees.  Her  eyes 
were  closed,  and  she  was  so  motionless  that  Flor- 
ence might  easily  have  doubted  whether  she  was 
asleep  or  dead.  I  soon  saw  that  it  was  the  uncon- 
sciousness of  exhaustion.  The  boy  beside  her  looked 
about  four  years  old,  with  a  fresh  childish  face  and 
large    wondering    blue    eyes. 

"  Haz     'oo    bwo't    my    bed    and    butter  ? "    he    said 

* 

to    Florence    as    we    came    near. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "and  some  nice  milk,  too; 
come    and    drink   it." 

"  I'z  glad,  toz    I'z    hung'y,"    and    he    quickly   began 


102    THE  BLOOD  AND    THE    WA  Y  IT  GOES  AROUND. 

to  eat.  He  showed  no  fear  of  Florence,  but  he 
looked    at    me    a    little    frightened. 

"Won't  you  come  with  me  and  find  the  ducks 
and    chickens  ?  "    Florence    asked. 

"Won't    my    mamma    'ake    up    and    want    me?" 

"  I'll  take  care  of  your  mamma,"  I  said.  "  You 
go    see    the    chickies    and    horses    with    Florence." 

"  Is  'oor  name  Fawence  ? "  and  he  looked  in  a 
trustful  way  into  her  face,  and    put  his  hand    in  hers. 

"  Yes ;  and  I've  got  a  brother  Jack.  We'll  find 
him." 

He  did  not  hesitate  longer,  but  trotted  off  well- 
contented. 

After  they  were  gone  I  sent  for  a  camp-bed. 
The  servants  laid  the  mother  on  it,  and  took  her 
to  the  house.  We  put  her  in  a  cool  room  on  a 
comfortable  bed,  and  I  carefully  gave  her  stimulants. 
I  was  rewarded  by  soon  seeing  the  large  brown 
eyes    open   and    look    at    me. 

"Where  am  I?"  she  asked.     "Where  is  Robbie?" 

"  You  are  with  friends,"  I  answered,  "  and  Rob- 
bie   is    just    outside    the    window." 


THE  BLOOD  AND    THE    WA  Y  IT  GOES  AROUND.     103 

"Are    you    Mrs.  —  Alice — Blake?" 

"  I    am." 

"  I  have  a  letter  for  you,"  and  she  tried  to  rise 
and  find  her  pocket.  She  could  not  do  so,  and  I 
found  it  for  her.  The  handwriting  was  that  of  my 
sister  who  lived  in  the  West.  The  letter  told  the 
woman's    story. 

"  The  bearer  of  this,"  my  sister  writes,  "  is  one 
whom  I  want  you  to  help.  Her  husband  was  a 
drunkard  and  a  cruel  man.  Her  son  ran  away  from 
home  five  years  ago,  hating  his  father  and  declar- 
ing: that  he  would  never  come  back.  The  mother 
has  heard  since  that  he  went  East,  and  is  living 
in  your  village.  A  few  months  ago  her  husband 
died  in  a  fit  of  delirium  tremens.  I  fear  that  she 
will  not  live  long;  she  has  had  consumption  for 
two  years.  Her  one  wish  was  to  find  her  son 
before  she  died.  We  gave  her  money  for  her  jour- 
ney, and  I  have  sent  her  to  you,  knowing  that  you 
will  help  her.  If  she  dies,  do  not  fail,  sister,  to  see 
that  precious  Robbie  is  taken  care  of ;  we  all  love 
him." 


io4     THE  BLOOD  AND    THE    WA  V  IT  GOES  AROUND. 

"  How  old  is  your  son  whom  you  want  to  find  ?  " 
I   asked. 

"  Twenty-three." 

"  Did   he    have    any    trade  ?  " 

•'  He    was    a    machinist    at    home." 

"  What    is    his    name  ?  " 

"  George    Burbank." 

I  started;  the  name  was  familiar.  I  had  heard  Mr. 
Harmon  speak  of   him  as  being  one  of  his  men. 

She    smiled,    for   she  saw    that    I    knew   of   him. 

"  You  can  tell  me  something  of  George  ? "  she 
said,  and  a  flush  rose  to  her  cheek. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  "  I  am  glad  I  can.  He  works 
in  the  machine  shop  of  a  neighbor  of  mine.  He  is 
one  of  his  best  men." 

"  My  work  is  finished,"  -she  said,  closing  her  eyes 
and  sinking  almost  exhausted  into  the  pillow.  "  I 
thought — if  I  could  find  George  —  and  if  he  was  a 
good  man  —  I  would  not  ask  God  for  anything  else 
—  George,  my  boy  —  will  take  care  - —  of  his  little 
brother  —  when  —  I  —  am  —  gone.  Robbie  —  Rob- 
bie "  —  she    murmured. 


THE  BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND.    105 

Her  strength  was  leaving  her  fast,  but  I  gave  her 
more   strong    stimulants    and    she    roused. 

"  You  shall  soon  see  George,"  I  said ;  "  I  have 
sent    for    him." 

He  soon  came.  I  had  sent  him  the  letter,  and 
so  prepared  him  for  the  meeting.  I  left  them  alone, 
and    I    do    not    know   what    passed    between    them. 

When  I  went  into  the  room  again  their  hands 
were  clasped  and  tears  were  rolling  down  his  cheeks. 
He  was  a  fine,  strong-looking  man,  and  I  wished 
that  the  mother  might  live  to  know  him  better. 
But  it  was  not  to  be  so.  Rousing  herself  for  a 
last  effort,  she  said,  —  "Take  care  of  Robbie,  George, 
and,  oh !  my  son,  my  son,  do  not  forget  that  the 
last  words  your  mother  said  were  these :  Let  the 
wine-cup  alone.  Your  father  died  the  death  of  a 
fiend.  Tell  —  my  —  Robbie,"  she  said,  turning  to 
me,  "that  the  angels  —  have  taken  mamma  —  to  the 
bright    world --she    has    told    him    about." 

That    was    all. 

We  closed  her  eyes,  and  strong  sobs  shook  the 
form    of    the    man  as  he  looked  at  her. 


106     THE   BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND. 

"  She  was  young'  and  pretty  eighteen  years  ago. 
I  remember  well,"  he  said.  "  God  help  me  to  be 
worthy  of  her." 

We  thought  best  to  lay  her  quietly  away  under 
the  arching  elms  of  our  cemetery,  and  give  to  Rob- 
bie the  happy  thought  that  the  angels  had  taken  her 
home. 

That  afternoon  Florence  took  Robbie  for  a  row 
on  the  lake.  They  crossed  to  the  other  side,  and 
while  they  were  sitting  on  the  bank   Florence  said  : 

"  Robbie,  did  your  mamma  ever  tell  you  about  a 
beautiful    bright  world  where  the  angels  live?" 

"  Oh  !  'es.  It's  all  booful  'ere,  'ey  sing  and  'ey  are 
dood  and  happy  all  e  time.  Where  is  my  mamma, 
Fawence?     Has  s'e  dawn   "ere?" 

"  Yes,  dear.     The  angels  came  and  took  her." 

Robbie  looked  very  thoughtful 

"  Well,  I'm  glad,"  he  said  at  last.  "  I  'ant  to  see 
my  mamma  anen,  but  my  mamma  'uz  very  sick  and 
tired,  and  may  be  s'e  can  west  when  she  dets  to  ze 
angels  house." 

"  Yes,   Robbie  ;    she  can    rest,"  and   Florence  kissed 


ilt«[|Ultli7nilll1imillllllll[i»W'i'"rii»ii'»^i»M-)rB,^i^i»ini^(|(ii»nrk^|(((|(jjIIrra,,|n!!:i-1!!JII!ll^,/1nj|ii 


FLORENCE    AND    KOBBIE. 


THE  BLOOD   AND    THE    WAV  IT  GOES   AROUND.    109 

him  tearfully.  "  Do  you  want  to  go  with  the 
angels  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  said.  "  I  like  to  'tay  here.  I  like  to  see 
ze  ducks  and  chickens,  and  horses,  and  wide  on  ze 
big,  big  lake.     Won't  '00  be  my  mamma,  Fawence  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  and   Florence  never  forgot. 

So  it  was  that  the  blue-eyed  boy  came  into  our 
home,  and  no  one  ever  filled  the  place  of  Florence 
in  his  heart.     Day  and  night  he  was  her  companion. 

Our  next  story  was  told  under  the  trees  in  the 
yard.  Hattie  was  with  us  and  Robbie  sat  by  well- 
contented  with    picture   books  and  puzzle   blocks. 

Since  the  last  lesson  the  children  had  asked  me 
so  many  questions  about  blood  and  the  things  con- 
nected with  it,  that  I  concluded  we  would  have  an- 
other   lesson    about    it. 

"  In  the  first  place,  tell  us  what  blood  is  made 
of,"    said    Jack. 

"Well,"  I  answered,  "blood  is  made  of  serum 
and  corpuscles,"  a  naughty  desire  to  tease  coming 
into    my    heart. 

"  O,    mamma !    tell    us,"    pleaded    Jack.       "  I     don't 


no     THE  BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND. 


want    to    wait.      I    want   to    know  right    off    what  are 
serious    corpicles  ?  " 

"  Serum  and  corpuscles,"  I  repeated  ;  "  say  it  after 
me  and  you  won't  talk  about  serious  corpicles  any 
more." 

They  did  so  and 
soon  learned  the 
words.  "  Serum  "  is 
a  liquid  something 
like    water. 

"Isn't  it  red?" 
asked    Florence. 

"  No.  The  cor- 
puscles are  the  red 
part." 

"  What  are  cor- 
puscles ?  "  asked 
Arthur.     "  How    do 


MAGNIFIED  RED  AND  WHITE  CORPUSCLES  OF  THE  BLOOD: 
.4,  CONSIDERABLY  MAGNIFIED;  THE  RKU  CORPUSCLES  ARE 
LYING  TOGETHER  IN  ROWS;  TWO  WHITE  CORPUSCLES.  AT 
aa.  APPEAR  ;  BCDE,  RED  CORPUSCLES  VERY  HIGHLY  MAG- 
NIFIED, F.  A  WHITE  CORPUSCLE  MAGNIFIED  THE  SAME 
AS  B\  GK,  WHITE  CORPUSCLES  UNDER  DIFFERENT  CIR- 
CUMSTANCES. 


they  make  it  red  ?  "  he  added,  after  a  moment's  thought. 

"  The  corpuscles  are  tiny,  soft  red  balls.     These  balls 

are  made  of  two  different  materials,  but  the  names  are 

so  long  that  I  sha'n't  trouble    you   about  them  now." 


THE   BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES   A  ROUND,     m 

"  There  must  be  piles  of  em,"  said  Jack.  "  The 
blood  looks    all    red." 

"  Yes.     The    serum    is   full    of    them." 

"  Can  these  corpuscle-balls  squeeze  together  so 
that  the  blood  can  go  into  the  little  capillaries  ? " 
said    Arthur. 

"  Yes.  They  are  very  elastic  and  tough,  and  can 
be    squeezed    into    every    shape." 

"Why,  I  was  thinking  about  it  yesterday,  and 
I  thought  blood  was  water  colored  with  cochineal 
bugs,"    said    Jack    soberly. 

"  Well,  you  were  a  goose  to  think  so,"  was 
Florence's  wise  reproof.  "  I  wouldn't  make  up  my 
mind    about    what    I    didn't    know    about." 

"  Good  advice  for  all  of  us,"  I  thought,  but  I 
said    nothing. 

"  Besides  the  red  corpuscles  there  are  white  cor- 
puscles. There  are  not  as  many  of  these  as  there 
are   of   the    red." 

"  Are  they  made  of  the  same  things  ? "  asked 
Arthur. 

"  No,    not    exactly." 


ii2     THE   BLOOD   AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND. 

"  Mamma,  what  makes  the  blood  grow  thick 
when    it    is    cold  ?  "    asked    Florence. 

"  There  is  something  in  the  serum  called  Fibrim, 
that    does    that." 

"  Auntie,  what  makes  the  blood  go  round  ? " 
asked    Hattie. 

"  It  is  the  great  muscle  of  the  heart  that  does 
it.  You  remember  when  we  were  talking  about 
the  muscles  I  told  you  that  some  of  the  muscles 
moved   whether    the    will    told    them    to   or    not." 

"  Those    were    involuntary    muscles,"    said    Arthur. 

"  Yes.  Well,  when  the  blood  flows  into  the 
auricles  it  fills  them  and  they  stretch  out  as  large 
as  they  can  be.  When  they  are  full  the  blood 
pushes  through  the  door  or  valve  into  the  ven- 
tricle. When  the  auricle  is  empty  it  closes  and 
the  ventricle  grows  large.  When  the  ventricles  are 
full   they  close  and  push  the  blood   into  the  arteries." 

"  Is  the  push  hard  enough  to  send  the  blood 
over    the    body  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"  Yes ;  although  the  walls  of  the  arteries  are 
partly    made    of    muscle    and    help    it    along." 


THE  BLOOD  AND    THE    WAY  IT  GOES  AROUND.     113 

"What  are  the  arteries  and  veins  made  of?" 
asked    Arthur. 

"  Their  walls  have  three  coats.  A  tough  out- 
side coat  with  elastic  fibres  in  it,  a  second  one 
made  of  a  thin,  brittle  skin  which  lies  in  folds 
when  the  artery  is  not  stretched  out.  This  coat 
has    a    few    elastic    fibres    in    it." 

"  The  muscles  inside  the  second  coat  make  the 
artery    push,    don't    they  ?  "    asked    Arthur. 

"Yes." 

"Are  the  veins  just  like  the  arteries?"  asked 
Florence. 

"  Very  much  like  them.  Their  walls  have  three 
coats  not  quite  like  those  of  the  arteries.  Some 
of  the  veins  have  little  doors  that  keep  the  blood 
from  flowing  back.  The  muscles  near  these  doors 
or  valves  push  a  good  deal  and  help  the  blood 
to    flow    around." 

"  Does  our  breathing  make  any  difference  in  the 
blood    flowing?"    asked    Arthur. 

"  Not  much."  But  I  thought  their  heads  would  not 
hold   anything   more  about  blood,  so  we  went   in. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


HOW     WE     DIGEST    OUR     FOOD. 


***J| 


T  is  the  oddest,  quaintest 
place  in  the  world."  Jack 
and  Florence,  chasing  fire-flies 
on  the  lawn,  heard  Mr.  Har- 
mon say  these  words  as  he 
sat  smoking  with  their  father 
on  the  porch.  The  evening  was  a  perfect  one  for 
early  summer.  The  sun  had  gone  away  to  wake 
up  the  Chinese  babies,  and  the  moon  was  just 
rising.  It  had  formed  a  shining  path  over  the 
lake.  The  light  of  the  fire-flies  was  fast  growing 
dim  as  the  moon  rose  in  the  sky.  Florence  and 
Jack  were  getting  tired  of  chasing  them,  and  as 
Mr.  Harmon  said  these  words,  they  were  seating 
themselves  on  the  steps,  so  the  former  asked,  ■ — 
"What    is    such    a    funny    place,    Mr.     Harmon?" 

114 


HOW   WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD.  115 

"  I  was  speaking  of  Arlington  Head,"  answered 
Mr.    Harmon. 

"  Where    is    it  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"  It  is  an  island,  lying  off  the  coast  of  Massa- 
chusetts. I  was  telling  your  father  about  it.  It 
it  nothing  but  a  bluff,  with  a  fishing  village  on  it. 
It  is  a  collection  of  odd  little  houses,  where  peo- 
ple from  the  coast  used  to  go  in  cod-fishing  seasons. 
It    has    become    a    seaside    resort    lately." 

"  Are    we   going   there,    papa  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"  Mr.  Harmon  was  trying  to  persuade  me  to 
send    you,"    answered    her    father." 

"  O,  yes !  papa,  do,"  said  Jack.  "  I  am  tired  of 
this    little  puddle   of   a  lake  ;    I  want  the   big  ocean." 

"  Yes,  a  boy  with  such  tremendous  ideas  as  you 
have  needs  a  big  ocean  to  drown  some  of  them 
in,"    answered    his    father. 

"Well,  papa,  any  boy  likes  the  sea,"  said  Jack; 
Judge    Blake    assented. 

"  Alice,"  said  my  husband,  as  I  came  on  the 
porch,  "  Mr.  Harmon  offers  me  a  chance  to  rent  a 
cottage    at    Arlington    Head." 


Il6  HOW  WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 

"  For    how   long  ? "    I    asked. 
"  Oh !     as    long    as    you    choose,"    he    said. 
"  Will    you    go    with    us  ? "    I    asked. 
"  I    go  ! "    he    answered  ;  "  and    leave    clerks,    briefs, 
and  clients;    leave  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  lawyer's 

office  —  no." 

"Then  I'll  go  with  our  children  and  Mr.  Har- 
mon's, and  stay  three  weeks;  you  will  come  Friday 
nights,    and   stay   over    Sunday." 

"Settled,"    he    said. 

As  the  result  of  this  evening's  conversation, 
Florence  and  Jack,  Arthur  and  Hattie,  Mary  and 
I  found  ourselves  a  week  from  that  evening  in  a 
boat,  which  steamed  up  to  the  wharf  at  Arlington 
Head.  Amid  the  clanking  of  chains,  the  blowing 
of  whistles,  and  the  throwing  of  ropes,  necessary 
for  the  stopping  of  a  boat,  we  did  not  notice  our 
surroundings  very  much  until  we  had  crossed  the 
plank,  and  were  standing  by  the  side  of  our  bags 
and  bundles  on  the  wharf.  When  we  did  look  up 
we  saw  rather  an  unpromising  sight.  Not  the 
light    easy    wagons,  the    graceful    pony  phaetons,  and 


HOW    WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD.  ir; 

the  bevy  of  pretty  girls,  and  admiring  young  men, 
who  are  generally  to  be  seen  at  the  seaside,  watch- 
ing the  arrival  of  the  boat.  No ;  only  two  hacks, 
which  had  done  service  at  least  ten  years,  with 
lean  horses,  and  six  or  seven  box  wagons.  Some 
of  these  wagons   had   two  seats,  some  of  them   three. 

A  jolly  old  man,  who  looked  a  little  as  if,  like 
the  island  codfish,  he  had  been  salted  down,  and 
was  warranted  to  "  keep  "  any  number  of  years, 
soon    spied    our    party. 

Coming   up   to   us,    he   asked    "if   this   was   the   party 
going  to  '  Jones'  Cottage  ? '  " 

I  answered  "yes,"  and  he  asked  us  to  follow 
him. 

He    led    us    to    a    three-seated    box    wa^on. 

I  must  say  I  wished  myself  at  home  when  I 
saw  the  wagon  that  I  must  clamber  into.  But,  for 
the  sake  of  the  children,  I  made  the  best  of  it. 
The  boys  thought  it  was  jolly  fun.  The  captain, 
for  the  men  at  Arlington  Head  were  all  captains, 
pulled  up  the  backboard  of  the  wagon,  and  "boosted" 
us    in,    one    after    the    other. 


n8  HO W   WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 

Mary  crawled  over  the  two  back  seats  to  the 
captain's  side  and  held  Robbie  in  her  lap.  Florence 
and  the  boys  took  the  second  seat.  I  took  care 
of  Hattie,  behind.  All  we  could  see,  as  we  looked 
about  us,  was  a  waste  of  sand.  But  the  box 
wagon  wasn't  so  uncomfortable,  after  all,  and  my 
pride  was  quieted  as  I  looked  around,  and  saw 
other  box  wagons  filled  with  people  as  respectable 
as    we  were. 

Mary  thought  that,  "  Shure  we  had  come  to  the 
wilds    of   Ameriky." 

After  a  half-hour's  drive  we  reached  the  village. 
The  village  was  made  up  of  about  twenty  low 
rambling  shingled  cottages.  A  large  green  pump  in 
the  middle  provided  the  town  with  drinking  water, 
and  a  few  stores  furnished  provisions.  The  steep 
bank  on  which  the  village  was  placed  rose  from 
a  wide  beach  of  soft  sand.  From  the  edge  of  the 
bluff  we  could  see  miles  of  boundless  ocean.  Por- 
tugal was  the  nearest  land.  A  heavy  surf  rolled 
and  broke  with  its  deep  steady  roar  upon  the  beach. 

"  Jones    Cottage,"    where    our    box    wagon     stopped 


HOW   WE  DIGEST  OUR   EOOD.  119 

was  the  cunningest  little  house  in  the  world. 
There  were  six  little  rooms  in  it  —  sitting-room, 
dining-room,  kitchen,  and  one  bedroom  below  stairs. 
From  the  kitchen  we  climbed  a  step-ladder,  and  on 
the  second  floor  found  two  little  cubby-holes  called 
bedrooms.  The  lady  who  owned  it  had  fixed  it  up 
with  attractive  old-fashioned  furniture,  and  it  looked 
very    home-like    and    pretty. 

We  were  all  delighted.  We  had  found  the  place 
of  rest.  Not  a  fashionable,  over-crowded  hotel  by 
the  "  seashore,"  but  our  own  dear  little  home. 
Clear  bracing  salt  air,  splendid  surf  bathing,  and  a 
broad    sea    to  look  at. 

Our  first  night  was  quiet,  and  we  slept  restfully. 
The  next  morning  was  clear  and  sunshiny.  The 
boys  took  a  tent  which  we  had  brought  with  us, 
and  put  it  up  on  the  beach.  We  spent  the  morn- 
ing watching  the  surf.  We  reached  there  Tuesday, 
and  when  Friday  came  around  we  were  enough  at 
home  to  enjoy  our  lesson.  Friday  morning  we  had 
our  bath  at  half-past  ten,  and  at  half-past  eleven 
gathered    under  the    tent    to  talk    about  the  digestive 


120  HOW    WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 

organs.  I  must  tell  you  about  our  lesson  now, 
and  after  that  you  shall  hear  more  of  our  strange, 
charming    little    island. 

"  Who  can  tell  me,"  I  began,  "  the  name  of  the 
broad,  flat  muscle  that  divides  the  hollow  place 
inside    the    ribs    into  two   parts  ? " 

"  Diagram,"    promptly    responded   Jack. 

"  It  isn't,"  said  Florence  and  Arthur  both  at  a 
time,   "  it's    diaphragm." 

"Which    is    right,    Hattie?" 

"  I  don't  remember,"  Hattie  answered  timidly, 
"  but    I    guess    Jack    is,    he    most    always    is." 

"  He  is  sometimes,"  I  said,  "  but  not  to-day. 
It's  the  diaphragm.  Hattie,  tell  me  what  name 
we   gave    to  the   hollow  place    above  the  diaphragm." 

"  Chest,"    answered    Hattie. 

"  The  hollow  place  below  the  diaphragm  is  called 
the  abdomen,  and  it  contains  the  large  organs  that 
digest    the    food." 

"  What   does   digest    mean  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"  It  comes  from  two  Latin  words  that  mean  to 
dissolve    or    separate.     To  digest    food    means  to  put 


HOW    WE   DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 


121 


it  into  such  a  form  that  it  can  be  taken  by  the 
blood  and  used  to  nourish  the  different  parts  of 
the  body.  What  organ  do  we  use  first  in  digestion, 
Arthur?"    I    asked. 

"We  put  our  food  into  our  mouths  first,"  Arthur 
answered,    after   thinking    a    moment. 

"  Yes,  the  mouth  is  used  first.  The  food  starts 
there." 

"  Mamma,  was  anybody  ever 
born  without  a  mouth  ?  "  asked 
Jack.  "  If  they  were  they 
couldn't    live,    could    they?" 

"  I  don't  know  whether  a 
person  was  ever  born  without 
a  mouth,  but  if  they  were 
they  could  live  a  long  time. 
Food  that  is  liquid  could  be  taken  in  through  the 
skin." 

"  Could    they    have    broth    baths  ? "    asked    Jack. 

"  Of  course ;  broth  baths  are  given  to  many  sick 
persons.  I'll  tell  you  more  about  that  later.  In 
the    mouth    we    first     make    our    food    fine    with    our 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  SALIVARY 
GLANDS  :  a-b-C  ARE  THE  GLANDS 
WHERE  SALIVA  IS  FORMED. 


122  HOW    WE   DIGEST  OUR   EOOD. 

teeth.  The  mouth  is  lined  with  a  pink  smooth 
membrane  called  mucous  membrane.  Under  this 
membrane  lie  some  little  hollow  sacs  called  glands. 
There  are  a  good  many  of  these  glands,  and  they 
have  long,  hard  names  that  we  will  not  try  to 
learn  now ;  they  are  all  the  time  making  a  kind  of 
liquid  that  is  called  saliva.  The  saliva  flows  into 
the    mouth    through    little    hollow    tubes." 

"  That's  what  makes  our  mouths  wet,  isn't  it  ? " 
said    Florence. 

"  Yes.  When  our  mouth  is  not  filled  with  food 
the  glands  make  only  enough  saliva  to  keep  the 
mouth  moist,  but  when  food  comes  into  the  mouth 
they  make  a  great  deal.  Jack,  can  you  tell  me  what 
the    saliva   does    to    the  food  ? "    I    asked. 

"  It  makes  the  food  soft,  so  it  can  go  down  into 
the    stomach,    I    should    think,"    Jack    answered. 

"  Yes.  After  we  have  chewed  it,  and  it  has  be- 
come soft  with  the  saliva,  we  push  it  on  to  the 
back  part  of  the  tongue.  Here  some  muscles  draw 
up  and  send  it  down  past  the  soft  palate  into  the 
pharynx." 


HOW    WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 


123 


"Is  pharynx  the  same  as  the  larynx  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  No ;  the  pharynx  is  a  tube  that  goes  down 
from  the  back  of  the  nose.  It  lets  food  pass  into 
the  stomach,  and  air  pass  into 
the  larynx  through  the  pas- 
sages   of   the   nose." 

"  I  should  think  the  food 
would  go  into  the  larynx," 
said    Arthur. 

"It  would,  but  the  larnyx 
has  a  door  that  shuts  when 
the  food  is  passing.  After 
the  food  has  passed  through 
the  pharynx  it  reaches  a  tube 
called  the  oesophagus.  This 
tube  has  strong  muscles  in  it. 
These  muscles  draw  up  and 
push    the    food    down    into  the    stomach,"    I    replied. 

"  Is     there     a     hole    in     the     diagram     to     let     the 
oesophagus    through  ?  "   asked    Jack. 

"  Jack,    don't     say    diagram    any     more ;     it's     too 
ridiculous,"  said    Florence. 


A  SECTION  OF  THE  MOUTH  AND  NOSE  ! 
a  THE  WINDPIPE  J  b,  THE  GULLET,  OR 
OZSOPHAGUS.  THELETTERSJ-/-C  ARE 
PLACED  IN  THE  PHARYNX. 


124  HOW    WE  DIGEST  OUR  FOOD. 

"  O,    bother,"    said    Jack;    "I    can't    remember. 

"Yes;  there  is  a  hole  in  the  muscle  for  the 
oesophagus  to  pass  through.  The  oesophagus  opens 
into  the  stomach,"  I  went  on.  "  The  stomach  is  an 
elastic  bag,  larger  in  one  part  than  the  other.  It 
lies  more  in  the  left  side  of  the  body  than  the 
right.  It  is  lined  with  a  membrane  which  is  pale 
pink  when  the  stomach  is  not  at  work,  but  this 
membrane  becomes  red  when  the  stomach  is  work- 
ing, from  some  blood  vessels  that  grow  full  of 
blood." 

"How   does    the  stomach   work?"  asked   Florence. 

"  Under  this  membrane  are  some  little  glands. 
When  food  goes  into  the  stomach  these  glands 
begin  to  work,  and  work  as  fast  as  they  can. 
They  make  a  liquid  that  is  called  gastric  juice. 
This  liquid  joins  with  the  food,  and  makes  it 
much  more  soft  than  it  was  before.  Some  kinds 
of    food    it    changes    entirely." 

"  Why    is    the   stomach    elastic  ?  "   asked    Jack. 

"  To  hold  our  dinners  when  we  eat  too  much,"  I 
said.     "  The    material    that    is    made    by    the    mixing 


HOW    WE   DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 


125 


of  the  gastric  juice  with  the  food  is  called  chyme," 
I  went  on.  "  This  chyme  leaves  the  stomach  by 
a  door,  and  passes  into  the  small  intestine  or  bowel. 
The  small  intestine  is  a  very  long"  tube  that  lies 
coiled  up  in  many  coils  in  the  abdomen.  Here  it 
meets  some  more  juice, 
bile  from  the  liver,  and 
some  juice  from  a  large 
gland  called  the  pan- 
creas. This  last  kind 
of  juice  is  very  much 
like  saliva.  These 
juices     make    the    food 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  STOMACH   AS  SEEN   FROM  BEHIND  ! 


Still        mOre       SOIt.  Alter  a,  the  cesophagus,  or  gullet;    h-i,  THE  SMALL 

intestine;  5,  the  stomach  ;  £\the  tube  from 

it    has    mixed  with    the 


the  pancreas. 


juices  of  the  intestine  it  is  called  chyle.  This 
finishes    the    process    of   digestion." 

"  How  does  the  food  get  into  the  blood  after  it 
is    digested  ?  "    asked    Arthur. 

"  Some  little  glands  called  lacteals  take  out  of 
the  small  intestine  the  parts  that  are  needed  by 
the    blood.      The    parts    that    the    blood    cannot    use 


126 


HOW   WE  DIGEST  OUR   FOOD. 


pass    on    into    the    large    intestine.     This    is    a    tube 
that   is  joined  to  the  small  intestine,  and    lies  around 
it.     From    this    tube    they   pass    out    of    the    body." 
"  I've    seen    livers,    haven't    I  ? "    said    Hattie. 
"  I    expect    so.      Do    you    know    what    makes     it 
such    a    dark    color?" 

"  No,    ma'am,"    they   answered. 

"  It     is    filled    with    large    blood-vessels.       It    is    a 

large  organ  placed  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  right 
side.  It  is  all  the  time 
making  bile  —  a  greenish 
yellow  bitter  juice.  This 
n  flows  into  the  small  intestine 

THE  LIVER  :   C,  THE  TUBE  THAT  CARRIES  THE 

BILE  TO  THE  SMALL   .KTEST.HE.  thTOUgh        2i        tube        that         ^dS 

into    it    from    the    liver,"    I    said. 

"  Where    is    the    pancreas  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"  The  small  intestine  makes  a  large  curve  after 
it  leaves  the  stomach,  before  it  begins  to  coil. 
The    pancreas    is    fitted    into    that    curve." 

"  I  should  think  the  stomach  would  move  around, 
the    place  where   it   lies   is  so   much   larger." 


HOW    WE  DIGEST  OUR   EOOD.  127 

"  It   is    fastened    in    by    straps." 

"Nothing  has  been  forgotten,  has  it,  mamma?" 
said    Florence. 

"  No." 

"  Mrs.  Blake,  can  any  kind  of  animals  live  on 
stones  ?  "    asked    Arthur. 

"  No.  All  animals  must  have  food  that  has  life 
in    it." 

"  Well,"  he  went  on,  "  uncle  John  lives  in  South 
America.  He  had  a  pet  ostrich  that  used  to  stay 
in  the  yard.  One  day  the  girl  hung  out  a  large 
washing  and  the  ostrich  ate  off  every  button  from 
the    things." 

"  That  may  be,  but  you  may  be  sure  that  every 
button  that  went  into  the  stomach  of  the  ostrich 
went  out  of  the  large  intestine.  It  is  true,  though, 
that  some  birds  swallow  stones  to  help  grind  the 
food    in    the    stomach." 

But  the  large  bell  sounded  from  the  bluff  for 
dinner  at  the  hotel,  and  we  gathered  up  our  things 
and    went    into    the  house. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


THE     LYMPHATIC     SYSTEM. 


HERE  were  pleasant  walks 
around  the  Island.  In  many 
places  there  was  a  carpet  of 
trailing  vines  for  us  to  walk 
on.  Bright  pink  roses,  red 
lilies,  and  sweet-scented  azaleas 
could  be  found  growing  wild  in  many  places. 
Sweet   fern    made    the    air  fragrant    with    its    odor. 

Next  lesson  day  we  took  a  long  walk  and  found 
a  spreading  tree.  We  sat  down  here  and  did  our 
work. 

We    talked    about    the    lymphatics. 
"  I  didn't  know  we  had  such  things  as  lymphatics, 
mamma,"    Florence  said.     "  What  are    they  ?  " 

"  They  are  a  system  of  tubes  and  capillaries  like 
the    veins  and    capillaries    that  hold    the    blood." 

128 


THE   LYMPHATIC   SYSTEM.  129 

"Are    they    as  large?"    asked  Arthur. 
"O,    no!    the    largest    is    no    larger    than    a    small 
quill,  and    the  small  ones    no  larger  than    threads." 

"  Do    they  have  anything  in  them  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"Yes;  they  hold  a  yellowish  white  liquid  called 
lymph.  But  I  must  tell  you  more  about  them. 
They  start  in  the  different  parts  of  the  body  in  tiny 
capillaries,  lots  and  lots  of  them.  After  awhile  they 
join  and  form  larger  tubes.  These  larger  tubes  join 
and  form  one  large  one  that  goes  straight  up  the 
centre    of    the    body." 

"Where  do  they  go  then?"  asked    Hattie. 

"This  large  one  divides  again  near  the  neck,  and 
one  part  joins  the  large  vein  at  the  left  side  and 
the  other  at    the  right    side." 

"What  good  are  they?"  said  Jack.  Jack  didn't 
believe    in  any   useless    organs. 

"Well,  you  see  that  after  the  food  has  been  di- 
gested it    has  to  get    into  the  blood   in    some  way." 

"Oh!  These  carry  it,  don't  they?"  said  Jack  again, 
jumping  at  his  conclusions  as  he  was  too  apt   to  do. 

"  Not    exactly.      They    take    up    the    chyle    after    it 


130  THE  LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM. 

has  been  digested  in  the  small  intestine,  but  they 
do    other    things   besides    this." 

"  What    kind  of    things  ? "    asked    Florence. 

"Absorbing  things.  They  lie  all  around  by  the 
side  of  the  blood-vessels.  Lying  in  this  way  they 
can  absorb,  that  is,  drink  in,  whatever  is  not  needed 
in    the    blood   to    nourish    the    body." 

"What  do  they  do  with  the  chyle?"  asked 
Arthur. 

"  They  unite  it  with  other  things  that  they  ab- 
sorb from  different  parts  of  the  body,  and  it  makes 
the    fluid    called    lymph." 

"  What    becomes    of    the    lymph  ? "   asked    Jack. 

"  It  is  carried  through  the  small  lymphatic  tubes 
to  the  large  one,  and  from  that  empties  into  the 
veins  to  unite  with  the  blood  and  be  purified  through 
the    lungs." 

"  Are  the  lymphatic  tubes  made  like  the  veins  ?  '* 
asked    Florence. 

"  Yes ;  very  much  like  the  veins.  They  have 
valves  in  them  like  the  valves  in  the  veins,  and  the 
lymph  flows  only  one  way.     That  is  toward  the  neck." 


THE   LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM. 


131 


"How    do    they    absorb?"  asked    Jack. 

"  They    do    their    work    partly  through    their    walls, 
and  partly  where  the  lymph-capillaries  join 
the  blood-capillaries." 

"  Is  there  anything  else  funny  about 
them  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Yes.  There  are  little  glands  that  they 
go  through.  Some  of  these  glands  are 
about  as  large  as  a  pea,  some  as  large  as 
an    almond." 

"  What's  in  the  glands  ?  "  asked  Arthur. 

"  Little  things  that  are  lymph-corpus- 
cles. They  are  very  much  like  the  white- 
corpuscles    of    the   blood." 

"  Do  the  glands  put  them  into  the 
lymph  ?  "  asked   Florence. 

"  Yes ;    or  rather   the    lymph  gets   them 
when  it   flows  through  the  glands.      They  unite  with 
the    lymph    and    flow    into    the    blood." 

"Do  animals    have    lymphatics?"    asked    Arthur. 

'  Yes  ;  some  have  what  are  called  lymph-hearts,  which 
pump  the  lymph  around  as  the  heart  pumps  the  blood." 


THE  LYMPHATICS 
OF  THE  FRONT 
OF  THE  RIGHT 
ARM  :  g,  LYM- 
PHATIC GLANDS, 
OR  GANGLIA  AS 
THEY  ARE  SOME- 
TIMES   CALLED. 


1 32  THE  LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM. 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  as  they  do  much  good,"  said 
Jack. 

"  O,  yes !  They  take  up  and  carry  back  to  the 
blood  a  great  many  things  that  would  be  wasted 
if   they    were    not    there." 

"  Well !  I  don't  think  they  are  as  nice  and  funny 
as  some  things,  like  the  nerves  and  heart,  anyway," 
he    said  quietly   to    himself. 

"  The  lymph-vessels  that  are  found  in  the  small 
intestine  are  called  lacteals,  because  they  hold  the 
milky-looking  chyle.  Lacteal  comes  from  a  Latin 
word   meaning   milk." 

"  I  suppose  the  chyle  flows  into  the  blood  with 
the   lymph,  doesn't    it  ? "    said    Arthur. 

"  Yes." 

"  Mrs.  Blake,  I  don't  see  how  people  can  go  on 
every  day  and  never  think  about  their  bodies,"  said 
Arthur. 

"  I    don't    see    either,    Arthur." 

"  Couldn't    a  great    many  diseases   be  saved  if  peo- 
ple   only    knew,   and    would    think,"      he    went    on. 
"  Yes.     I    am    telling    you    these    things   because    I 


THE   LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM.  133 

want  you  to  know  and  think.  Some  children  came 
to  me  yesterday  and  wanted  to  eat  some  green 
peaches.  Did  they  know  about  that  poor  stomach 
that  never  would  have  known  what  to  do  with  such 
dreadful    things  ?  " 

Jack  and  Arthur  looked  sheepish,  and  Hattie 
"gussed    they    were    the    children." 

But  we  had  a  walk  before  us  and  we  were 
hungry,  so  we  put  up  our  papers  and  went  back 
to  the  cottage,  where  Mary  and  Robbie  had  a  good 
lunch    ready    for    us. 

"  Lymphatic  day,"  as   Florence  called  it,  was  a  day 

that    we    have     not    forgotten.      Our    usual     hour    for 

.    bathing    was     five    o'clock    in     the     afternoon.      Jack 

found     us    about    that    hour   on     this    day    sitting    on 

a    bench    at    the   edge    of    the  bluff. 

"Hurrah  for  a  ducking!"  he  called  out  as  he 
came    up    to    us. 

"  I  think  we  would  have  one  in  earnest,  Jack, 
if  we  went  in  to-day,"  Florence  said.  "  Look  at 
those  waves ! " 

"  O,   you    pickaninny !    everybody's    going    in." 


134  THE  LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM. 

Sure  enough.  One  after  another  the  bathers  were 
leaving    their   cottages    and    going   to    the    beach. 

It  was  a  great  temptation ;  I  yielded  against  my 
better  judgment,  for  the  waves  towered  like  mountains. 

We  went  to  the  house  and  put  on  our  bathing 
suits.  Arthur  and  Jack  had  no  fear  in  any  surf.  They 
were  swimmers,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  danger  for 
them.  They  would  mount  the  highest  waves  and 
laugh  when  they  reached  the  top.  With  Florence  and 
myself  it  was  different.     We  clung  tight  to  the  rope. 

We  did  not  intend  that  afternoon  to  go  beyond 
the  place  where  the  waves  broke  on  the  beach.  We 
laughed  and  jumped  as  they  covered  us  with  sand 
and  seaweed,  and  did  not  realize  that  we  were 
stepping    too   far. 

A  wave    higher  than    the  others  rolled  slowly  in. 

We  watched  its  coming,  but  did  not  realize  its 
power  until  it  was  just  upon  us.  We  turned  to 
run  from  it,  but  it  was  too  late.  It  caught  us  as 
it  rolled  over  and  whirled  us  under  the  rope.  Be- 
fore we  could  get  on  our  feet  again  another,  and 
yet    another,    had  rolled    in    and    swept    over    us. 


THE  LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM.  135 

In   a    moment    we   must    have    loosed    our   hold. 

It  was  Jack,  impulsive,  reckless  Jack  who  saved 
our  lives.  He  was  swimming  near  and  saw  our 
danger.  With  the  cool  determination  which  a  crisis 
sometimes  gives  to  such  natures,  he  thought  how  he 
would  save  us. 

No  more  than  three  high  waves  usually  follow  in 
succession.  He  knew  this  fact,  and  while  the  third 
was  breaking  swam  close  to  us.  With  strength 
greater  than  it  would  seem  possible  in  so  young  a 
boy,  he  caught  hold  of  both  of  us  and  pushed  us 
on  to  our  feet  up  beyond   the    reach  of  the  breakers. 

Florence  was  unconscious,  and  as  the  wave  carried 
her  on  to  the  beach  he  thought  she  was  dead  and 
fell  fainting  beside  her.  But  friends  were  at  hand. 
Others  had  been  bathing  near  us,  and  some  sitting  on 
the  beach.  They  administered  restoratives,  and  we 
were   soon    ourselves    again. 

Two  or  three  poems  were  written  to  Jack  by 
enthusiastic  maidens,  and  he  became  the  lion  of 
the   day. 

To   me,    it  was    no    revelation   of    Jack's    character. 


136  THE  LYMPHATIC  SYSTEM. 

I  knew  that  the  qualities  were  there, —  the  courage, 
the  wisdom,  the  determination  necessary  for  such  a 
deed.  It  needed  only  danger  to  those  he  loved  to 
bring  them  to  light.  I  quietly  thought  these  things 
when    people    said, — 

"What  a  remarkable  son  you  have,  Mrs.  Blake; 
who  would  have  thought  it  of  that  reckless  child !  " 

Jack    merely  said  : 

"  I  wanted  mamma  to  mend  my  stockings,  and 
Florence  to  tease.  What's  the  use  of  making  such 
a    fuss    about    it?" 

An  old  sailor  who  had  made  ten  whaling  voyages 
to    the    Pacific,    shook    his    wise    head    and    said  — 

"  Don't  be  foolin'  with  them  breakers,  Mis'  Blake. 
Ye    can't    put    no    dependence    on   em." 


CHAPTER    IX. 


OUR     NERVES. 


T  was  not  considered  respect- 
able to  leave  Arlington  Head 
without  having  caught  a 
shark.  Boys  must  not  only 
catch  a  shark,  they  must 
cut  out  the  jaws,  upper  and 
lower,  and  have  these  jaws  boiled  until  they  were 
very  soft.  When  the  jaws  became  soft  the  teeth 
would  easily  come  out.  These  teeth  would  look  a 
little  fierce,  but  they  would  be  very  white  and  pure. 
The  boys  must  bore  holes  in  these  teeth  and  string 
them  into  necklaces  for  the  girls,  thus  presenting 
trophies   of    their    valor. 

Arthur  and  Jack  would  not  be  outdone  by  the 
other  boys  on  the  island.  Florence  and  Hattie 
should    have    necklaces.     So    the    young   people    soon 

i37 


138  OUR   NERVES. 

began  to  beg  me  to  go  out  to  Woonsocket,  the 
hunting  ground  of  the  shark.  I  felt  a  little  "  game  " 
myself,  I  had  heard  so  much  about  the  sharks,  and 
was  quite  willing  to  call  on  our  captain  and  ask 
him  to  take  us  to  Woonsocket.  He  came  one 
morning    with    his    box    wagon,   and  we  "  piled   in." 

The  island  was  much  the  shape  of  a  swan. 
The  village  was  situated  on  the  body  of  the  swan, 
and  towards  the  right  of  the  body  curved  a  long 
neck  of  land.  The  water  inside  this  curve  formed 
what  is  called  the  "  inner  harbor."  The  outside  was 
a  coast  of  the  open  sea.  At  the  narrowest  part  of 
the  neck  an  eating-house  had  been  built,  and  boats 
for  shark  fishing  could  be  had  there.  The  land 
was  scarcely  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  On  one  side 
was  the  quiet  rippling  water  of  the  harbor,  each 
tide  leaving  glittering  shells  upon  the  beach.  On 
the  other  side  the  ocean,  and  the  white  line  of 
surf.  Just  outside  of  this  neck  in  the  open  sea 
played  the  sharks.  They  were  not  the  man-eating 
species,  but  they  were  five  or  six  feet  long  and 
very  fierce.     The  shark   boats  were  owned    by  young 


OUR  NERVES.  139 

men  who  went  out  with  parties,  and  we  soon  got 
possession   of   one. 

Hattie  was  not  strong  enough  to  attempt  the 
excitement,  but  Florence  and  Arthur,  Jack  and  I, 
jumped  in  and  pushed  off  over  the  surf.  In  the 
boat  we  took  a  strong  iron  hook  with  meat  on  it. 
Fastened  to  this  hook  was  a  chain,  and  attached  to 
the  chain  was  a  large  coil  of  rope.  The  two  young 
men,  guides  of  our  party,  rowed  us  out  about  a 
mile,  and  then  directed  us  to  throw  out  the  "baited 
hook.  Arthur  did  so,  and  we  did  not  wait  long 
before    we    saw   sure    signs    of  a    nibble. 

The    rope    slowly  began    to   move. 

"  We've  got  a  fellow,"  said  one   of  our  guides. 

Arthur  had  quiet  patience.  He  could  enjoy  the 
progress  of  the  sport,  but  it  required  all  my  power 
of  command  to  keep  Jack  from  jumping  overboard 
with  excitement  when  he  heard  the  words.  The 
rope  began  to  uncoil.  It  was  very  long  and  was 
fastened  to  the  seat  of  the  boat.  The  shark  was 
evidently  eating  his  meat,  and  had  not  discovered 
the    enemy    that    lay    concealed    in    the    savory    meal. 


140  OUR  NERVES. 

But  soon  the  hook  fastened  itself,  and  like  lightning 
the  fish  was  off.  He  travelled  rapidly  as  far  as  the 
rope  would  let  him  go.  Then  came  the  tug. 
Arthur  was  determined  to  pull  the  first  one  in 
alone,  if  he  could.  It  took  all  his  strength,  for  the 
fish  was  a  big  one,  and  Jack  had  to  help  him  at 
last.  But  together  they  did  it,  the  perspiration 
pouring  from  their  faces.  Florence  screamed  and 
would  have  hidden  her  face  as  the  monstrous  flop- 
ping creature  was  drawn  over  the  side  of  the  boat. 
Our  guides  had  a  club  ready  and  gave  him  a  blow 
that  stunned  him  just  as  his  head  appeared.  They 
then    killed    him    and    towed    him    to    land. 

We  went  out  for  a  second  one,  and  Florence  and 
I  tried  our  strength  to  bring  him  into  the  boat.  It 
was  no  light  labor,  but  we  did  it.  The  flesh  of 
the  shark  is  not  used  at  all  for  food.  It  is  too 
coarse.  There  is  some  fat  on  the  body  that  is 
used  for  oil,  but  he  is  of  little  service  to  man. 
I  felt  sorry  afterward  that  we  had  been  so  cruel, 
just  for  sport's  sake.  Perhaps  Mr.  Bergh  had  bet- 
ter   station    men   at    the    shark    fisheries. 


OUR   NERVES.  141 

The  boys  cut  out  the  jaws,  but  the  rest  of  the 
carcass  was  left  on  the  sand.  Hattie  was  waiting", 
and  had  a  basket  full  of  white  and  glittering' 
shells  to  show  us.  She  also  had  specimens  of 
seaweed  colored  the  most  brilliant  green.  We  en- 
joyed our  dinner  of  clam-chowder  and  boiled  blue 
fish.  In  the  afternoon  a  good  bath  in  the  quiet 
water  refreshed  us,  and  we  rode  home  well  satisfied 
with    our    day   at    Woonsocket. 

I  did  not  mean  to  worry  the  children  with  the 
lessons  about  their  bodies,  but  my  mention  of 
putting  it  off  met  with  such  a  groan  of  disapproval 
that    I    said    no   more    about    it. 

"  Why,  mamma,"  said  Jack,  "  these  lessons  keep 
me  from  being  poky.  When  I  haven't  anything 
else  to  do,  I  just  go  to  the  cupboard  and  take 
bits  of  bread  and  then  follow  it  along  to  see  what 
becomes    of    it." 

"Well,"  I  said,  "on  Friday  I'll  tell  you  some- 
thing   about    the    nervous    system." 

We  met  under  our  tent  on  the  beach,  the  girls 
adorned   with    the    necklaces   of    sharks'    teeth. 


142 


OUR   NERVES. 


"The    nerves,"  I    began,  "are   telegraph  wires  from 
the    mind    to    the    body." 

"What    is    the    mind,    mamma?"    said    Florence. 

"  All  I  can 
tell  you,  Flor- 
ence, is,  that  it 
is  the  part  of 
us  that  does  the 
thinking." 


"  It's  in  our 
heads,  isn't  it  ?  " 
said    Arthur. 

"  What  makes 

you  think  it  is?  " 

"  Because    we 

don't  think  when 

our  heads  are  cut 

off,"    answered 

Arthur  with  great  promptness,  to  which  I  replied,  "  That 

is  not  the  only  reason,  but  it  will  do  for  the  present." 

"  Does    it    just    lie    around     loose    inside    the    head 

bones  ?  "    asked    Jack. 


mm 

A  SIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  BRAIN  AND  UPPER  PART  OF  THE  SPINAL 
CORD:  C-C,  THE  FOLDS  IN  THE  CEREBRUM;  C-b,  THE  CERE- 
BELLUM. 


OUR   NERVES.  143 

"  Be  still,  all  of  you,  and  let  me  get  started.  In- 
side of  the  skull  —  that  is  the  name  given  to  the 
bones  of  the  head  when  they  are  taken  all  together 
—  is  a  soft  substance  called  the  brain.  It  is  made 
of  two  kinds  of  material,  —  soft  pulpy  gray  matter, 
and  white  fibrous  matter.  It  has  many  different 
parts.  Fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  brain  is  a 
long  cord.  This  cord  is  made  of  gray  and  white 
matter    like    the  matter    in    the    brain." 

"  Oh !  that  is  the  spinal  cord,  and  it  runs  down 
through  those  holes  that  you  told  us  were  in  the 
backbone;  doesn't    it?"    said    Florence. 

"  Yes,"  I  answered ;  "  and  do  you  remember  that 
I  told  you  about  some  little  holes  that  were  in  the 
sides  of  the  backbone  to  let  the  nerves  go  through  ?  " 

Florence    remembered,  and    told  the  rest    about  it. 

"  Well,  through  each  one  of  these  little  holes 
nerves    go    out    from    the    spinal    cord." 

"  Are  they  as  big  as  the  spinal  cord  ? "  asked 
Arthur. 

"  O,  no !  The  nerves  are  not  larger  than  threads. 
In  the  centre  is  a  gray  thread   called  the  axial   band; 


144  OUR   NERVES. 

around  this  is  a  soft  white  substance  called  the 
medulla,  and  outside  is  a  verv  soft  membrane  that 
covers  these.  This  is  called  the  sheath.  These 
nerves    branch    out  and    go   all    over    the  body." 

"  Are  they  as  thick  as  the  blood-vessels  ? "  asked 
Jack. 

"  Yes." 

"What    good    do    they    do?"    Jack    went    on. 

"You  could  not  know  anything,  or  move  without 
them." 

"  Please  tell  us  how  it  is,"  asked  Arthur,  his  big 
eyes  growing    bigger. 

"  There  are  two  sets  of  nerves,"  I  said.  "  One 
set  tells  the  limbs  and  all  outside  things  what  the 
brain  wants  them  to  do.  The  other  set  tells  the 
brain  about  things  from  outside.     Touch  this  book." 

They    did    it. 

"  The  nerves  of  your  eye  are  set  in  motion  by 
the  rays  of  light  from  the  book.  The  nerves  at 
the  end  of  your  finger  are  set  in  motion  when  you 
touch  the  book.  Quicker  than  lightning  the  motion 
travels    to    the    brain,    and     you    know    that    it    is    a 


OUR   NERVES. 


•45 


book   and    not   anything   else.     Which    set    of    nerves 
does   that  ?  " 

"  The  set  that  tells  the  brain  about  outside 
things,''    said    Arthur. 

I    told    him    he    was    right. 

"  Now  move  your  first  fingers,"  I  said.  They 
wiggled    them.     "  What    moves    the    fingers  ? " 

"  Muscles,"    answered    Jack 

"Well,  what  makes  the  muscles  go  just  now  in- 
stead   of   a  minute    ago  ? 

"  Oh  !  the  brain  wanted  them  to  go,  and  the  nerves 
told  them  what  the  brain  wanted.  Wasn't  it  so?" 
said    Jack. 

"That's  exactly  the  way.  Florence,  which  set  of 
nerves    did  that  ?  " 

"The  set  that  tell  outside  things  what  the  brain 
wanted,"  she    said. 

"  Right." 

'  How  do  the  nerves  do  this,  mamma  ? "  asked 
Florence. 

"  They    do    it    by    motions." 

"  How  ?  "    said    they    all. 


146  OUR  NERVES. 

"  In  one  set  of  nerves  the  motion  begins  at  the 
end    of    the    nerve,    in    the    other    at    the    brain." 

"  What  makes  us  have  different  feelings  ? "  asked 
Arthur. 

"  Different  kinds  of  motion ;  that  is,  motions  that 
are  faster  or  more  slow.  Every  color  and  every 
different  thing  that  we  see  makes  a  different 
motion." 

"How  does  just  motion  do  it?"  said  Jack,  with 
astonishment    visible    in    every   feature. 

I    could   only    answer,    "  I    don't    know." 

"  Well,  I  shall  have  a  great  many  questions  to 
ask   God    when    I    see    him,"    he    continued. 

"  If  the  muscles  and  heart  and  lungs  and  every- 
thing were  in  the  body,  and  the  nerves  gone, 
couldn't  the  body  do  a  single  thing?"  asked  Arthur. 

"  No." 

"  Could  the  nerves  do  anything  without  the  brain  ?  " 
asked    Florence. 

"  Yes.  The  spinal  cord  has  power  to  act  when 
the  nerves  that  lead  from  it  are  excited  by  other 
things   than  the   brain.     We    swallow  without  willing 


OUR   NERVES.  147 

to  swallow  after  the  food  reaches  the  back  part  of 
the  tongue.  The  nerves  of  the  pharynx  and  oesoph- 
agus are  excited  by  the  food  that  strikes  them. 
A  frog  swims  after  its  head  is  cut  off  if  it  is  thrown 
into  the  water.     The  water  excites   the  nerves." 

"  I    can    hardly    believe    it,"    said    Arthur. 

"  It's    true.     You    can    try  it." 

"  Won't  you  please  tell  us  more  about  the  brain  ? " 
asked    Hattie. 

"  The  brain  is  of  a  light-gray  color,  and  looks 
inside  the  head  as  if  it  were  lying  in  a  great  many 
folds.  There  are  many  different  parts  which  have 
long,    hard    names." 

"What  is  the  name  of  the  thinking  part?"  asked 
Arthur. 

"  The  cerebrum,"  1  answered.  "  It  is  the  upper 
part  of  the  brain,  and  much  the  largest  part.  The 
folds  in  it  are  very  deep,  and  it  looks  just  as  if 
it  were  cut  down  right  across  the  middle  of  the 
head  just  where  a  little  girl  parts  her  hair  when 
it  is  parted  straight.  Each  of  these  two  sides  seems 
to    have    the    same    power." 


148  OUR   NERVES. 

"  You  said  it  was  made  of  gray  and  white  pulpy 
stuff,    didn't    you  ? "    said    Jack. 

"  Yes ;  it  is  white,  fibrous  matter  on  the  inside, 
and    gray    on    the  outside." 

"Which  thinks,  the  gray  or  the  white?"  asked 
Florence. 

"  The  gray  has  the  life  power.  The  white  simply 
carries    the    power    to    other    parts    of    the    body." 

"  How  do  they  know  that  just  the  cerebrum 
thinks  ? "  asked  Florence ;  "  they  can't  cut  open  a 
man's    head    to  find    out." 

"  No ;  but  they  cut  open  dogs'  heads,  and  rabbits' 
heads,   and    chickens'    heads    to  find    out." 

"  Live    ones  ? "    they    all    asked  together. 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  I  think  that's  perfectly  awful ! "  said  Flor- 
ence   with    tears    in    her    eyes. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  it  seems  awful,  but  think,  my 
dears,  a  little  more  about  it.  In  the  first  place  they 
almost  always  stupefy  the  animal  with  chloroform, 
and  if  they  did  not,  is  not  the  knowledge  that  men 
may  get  worth  more  than  the  pain  of  a  few  animals  ?  " 


OUR   NERVES.  149 

"  Mamma,  I  think  it  is  funny  for  you  to  talk 
this  way,"  said  Jack.  "  You  won't  even  let  us  kill 
a   little   bit    of   a    bug." 

"  Jack,  if  by  killing  a  little  bug  or  a  big  one 
you  could  learn  to  cure  the  dreadful  diseases  of 
the  brain,  or  to  make  insane  people  well,  you  might 
kill  a  hundred.  I  think,  however,  it  is  very  wrong 
to    kill    them    only    for    sport." 

"  I  don't  think  I  could  believe  in  it,"  said  Flor- 
ence. 

"  Don't  make  up  your  minds  till  you  are  older 
and  have  thought  more  about  it.  Men  find  that 
if  they  cut  out  the  cerebrum  of  a  chicken,  but 
leave  the  rest  of  the  brain,  the  chicken  can  do 
everything  that  it  is  made  to  do ;  that  is,  it  can 
eat  if  food  is  put  into  its  mouth,  fly  if  its  wings 
are  moved ;  but  that  it  can  do  nothing  until  it  is 
forced  to  do  it.  It  would  stand  perfectly  still  and 
stupid  as  long  as  it  was  alive,  and  then  starve  to 
death." 

"  Please  tell  us  about  the  other  parts  of  the 
brain,"   said    Florence. 


ISO  OUR   NERVES. 

"  Below  the  cerebrum  and  part  way  under  it,  is 
a  smaller  part,  called  the  cerebellum.  It  has  gray 
matter  outside  and  the  white  matter  inside.  The 
white  matter  is  put  in  in  a  beautiful  way.  If  you 
cut  the  cerebellum  open  you  can  see  what  seems 
to  be  white  branches.     They  are  called  arbor  vitas." 

"  That  means  tree  of  life,"  said  Arthur.  "  I  learned 
it    in    school." 

"What  does  the  cerebellum  do?"  said  Jack.  "Do 
they    know    from    chickens  ?  " 

"  Yes.  If  they  cut  out  the  cerebellum  of  a  chicken 
it  knows  everything,  but  it  cannot  do  what  it  wants 
to.  It  cannot  walk,  cannot  fly,  cannot  pick  up  its 
food  or  eat.  It  tries  in  a  wild  way  to  do  these 
things,    but    it    cannot    control    its    motions." 

"Why,  mamma?"    asked   Jack. 

"  Because,  my  dear,  it  is  supposed  that  the 
cerebellum  has  something  to  do  with  the  muscles, 
and  helps  us  to  make  the  muscles  go  straight  when 
we   walk   and    run    and    pick    up    things." 

"  And  helps  the  chickens  to  fly  straight,"  con- 
tinued   the    boy. 


OUR   NERVES.  151 

"There  are  parts  of  the  brain  that  control  all  the 
senses.  They  are  sight,  hearing,  and  smell ;  and 
there  is  a  speck  of  a  place,  just  above  the  neck, 
which  cannot  be  even  pricked  without  causing 
instant    death." 

Jack  looked  as  if  he  were  determined  to  find  it, 
and    try   to    see    if   what    I    said    were    really    true. 

"  Are  there  any  nerves  that  don't  come  from  the 
spinal   cord  ?  "    asked    Florence. 

"  Yes.  There  is  a  system  that  controls  the  mo- 
tions of  the  abdomen  and  the  organs  inside.  It  is 
called    the   sympathetic    system." 

"  Mamma,  I  see  now  why  you  said  that  the 
nerves  were  telegraph  wires.  The  brain  is  one 
station,  the  body  is  the  other,  and  the  nerves  are 
the    wires.     Isn't    it    so?"    as  the  big  bell   sounded. 

"  Bother  on  that  dinner-bell,"  said  Jack.  "  I 
wanted  to  know  lots  more  things.  I  think  the 
nerves    are     the     very    nicest     things." 

"We'll  hear  more  sometime,  but  you  wouldn't  like 
your  nerves  if  they  got  too  tired  talking  and  think- 
ing   about    themselves." 


CHAPTER   X. 


THE     EYE. 


UR  three  weeks  had  gone  by. 
The  island  had  proved  more  at- 
tractive than  we  had  expected, 
but  there  was  a  lonely  papa  in 
our  lakeside  home,  and  we  wanted 
to  be  with  him.  We  bade  fare- 
well to  our  captain  with  his  box  wagon,  and,  with 
fair  promises  to  return  the  following  summer,  we 
began   our   homeward   journey. 

Grass,  elm-trees,  and  mountains  seem  more  beauti- 
ful than  ever  after  one  has  been  looking  at  barren 
sand  and  blue  sea.  Our  home  looked  very  charm- 
ing as  we  returned  to  it  that  August  evening. 
The  "  puddle  of  a  lake  "  looked  lovely,  even  to  Jack, 
and  we  settled  down  to  our  pleasant  home-life  again 
well    contented. 


152 


THE    EYE.  153 

George  Burbank  had  prepared  a  pleasant  surprise 
for  the  children.  He  was  a  practical  machinist,  and 
had  been  at  work  for  a  long  time  on  an  engine 
which,  when  it  was  finished,  would  be  about  half 
the  size  of  an  ordinary  engine.  He  had  completed 
it  while  the  children  were  away,  laid  the  track 
around  one  of  their  father's  fields,  and  put  an  old 
wagon-box    on    car-wheels    for   a    car. 

The  morning  after  we  got  home  he  invited  us 
to  ride.  Puff,  puff!  toot,  toot!  We  went  around 
the  field  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour.  The 
children  shrieked  with  glee,  and  before  the  summer 
was    over    the    boys    were    expert    engineers. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Jack,  one  day,  as  we  sat  down 
to  our  lesson,  "  papa  is  the  funniest  man  !  The 
other  day  I  asked  him  what  my  eyes  and  ears 
were.  He  told  me  they  were  '  end  organs.'  I  asked 
him  what  '  end  organs '  were,  and  he  told  me  to 
ask    mamma.     Are    they  end    organs  ? " 

I  laughed,  and  told  him  that  papa  was  right. 
Each  nerve  has  at  its  end  what  is  called  an  "  end 
organ."      In    the     smaller    nerves    this    end    organ    is 


154  THE  EYE. 

only  a  little  loop  or  branch  where  it  receives  the 
motions  that  it  carries  to  the  brain,  but  the  larger 
nerves  have  large  organs  at  the  end  like  the  eye 
and  ear  and  nose,  and  the  nerves  of  taste  on  the 
tongue. 

"  But  I  don't  see  how  the  eye  is  an  end  organ, 
anyway,"   said    Jack. 

"  I  think  I  do,"  said  Florence,  with  a  little  hesitation. 

"  Tell    us,   if   you    do." 

"  I  think  that  the  nerves  of  the  eye  carry  the 
things    that    we    see    to    the    brain." 

"  A  big  load  they'd  have,  you  goose,"  said  Jack, 
glad   of    a    chance    to    trip    up    his    careful    sister. 

"  Mamma,  Jack's  a  hateful  thing,"  said  Florence 
tearfully.     "  You    know  what    I    mean." 

"  You  had  better  say  what  you  mean,"  Jack 
quickly    retorted. 

Florence  was  beginning  to  ask  him  about  his 
"  diagram "  when  I  saw  it  was  time  to  stop  them. 
I  told  Florence  that  two  words  were  needed  to  make 
her  sentence  right.  The  words  were  "  picture  of." 
"  Where   will   you    put    them,    Florence  ? "    I  said. 


THE  EYE. 


155 


"  Oh !  I  see,"  she  answered,  still  tearful.  "  It  is 
the  picture  of  the  things  we  see  that  the  nerves 
carry    to    the    brain." 

"  You're  right  now.  So  the  eye  is  an  end  organ. 
Now    we    must    see    how    the    eye    is    made." 

They    all     began    to    look    at     one    another's    eyes, 


&OS 


-OrB. 


C.h.         "I 
THE    EYEBALL    AND    THE    MUSCLES    AROUND    IT 


but    they    could    not    tell    much    about    it    from    that. 

"  Who  can  tell  me  the  shape  of  the  eyeball  ? " 
None  of  them  knew,  so  I  had  to  tell  them  that 
it    was    nearly   round    like  a    ball. 

"  What  makes  the  white  of  the  eye  ? "  asked 
Florence. 

"  It  is  the  outside  covering  of  the  eyeball,  and 
looks  white  as  you  see  it  in  the  eye.  It  is  called 
the    sclerotic    coat." 


156  THE  EYE. 

"  There's  another  name  that  it  breaks  a  fellow's 
jaws  to  pronounce,"  said  Jack.  "  What  on  earth  do 
they    mean    when     they    say    '  slercotic  '  ?  " 

"  They  mean  that  it  is  the  hard  coat,"  I  an- 
swered. "  S-c-1-e-r-o-t-i-c  is  from  a  Latin  word  mean- 
ing   hard    or    firm." 

"  This  white  coat  doesn't  cover  the  front  of  the 
eyeball,  does  it  ? "  said  Arthur,  who  had  been  study- 
ing   Jack's    eye. 

"  No ;  it  ends  where  you  see  it  end,  around  the 
edge    of   the   dark    part  of  the   eye." 

"  What  covers  the  dark  part  ? "  asked  Hattie. 
"  It    is    something   that    looks    like   glass." 

"  It  is  clear  like  glass,  and  it  is  called  the  cornea. 
The  word  cornea  comes  from  a  Latin  word  meaning 
horn,  and  this  membrane  has  this  name  because  it 
is  strong  like  horn.  It  is  round,  you  see,  and 
it    is    joined    to    the    sclerotic   coat." 

"Doesn't    it    bulge    out   in    front?"    Jack    asked. 

"A   little." 

"  What's    inside  ?  "    asked    Florence. 

"  Inside    of    the    white    covering    is    a    black    cover- 


THE  EYE.  157 

ing.  This  coat  is  called  the  choroid  coat.  That 
word  means  a  coat  that  looks  like  a  kind  of  skin 
or    leather    called    corion." 

"Is  that  the  dark  part  of  the  eye?"  asked 
Jack. 

"  No  ;  you  cannot  see  the  choroid  coat  at  all.  It 
ends  in  some  muscles  that  go  all  around  the  edge 
of    it." 

"  What  are  the  muscles  in  the  choroid  coat  for  ?  " 
asked    Florence. 

"  They  have  something  to  do  with  our  being  able 
to    see    at    different    distances." 

"  Well,  what  is  the  dark  part  of  the  eye  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Wait  till  I  come  to  it,  my  boy  ;  we  are  talking 
about    the    coverings    of    the    eyeball    now." 

"  I  should  think  two  coverings  were  enough,"  he 
went    on. 

I  didn't  argue  the  matter  with  him,  but  said, 
"  The  third  covering  is  inside  both  the  others,  and 
is  called  the  retina.  This  coat  is  made  of  a  network 
of  nerves.  The  word  retina  comes  from  a  word 
meaning    net." 


158  THE  EYE. 

"  How  does  the  nerve  get  to  it  ? "  asked  inquisi- 
tive   Jack. 

"  There  are  holes  in  the  outside  coats  to  let 
them    through." 

"The  nerves  come  from  the  brain,  don't  they?" 
asked    Florence. 

"  Yes.  Inside  the  brain  are  two  large  bodies  of 
nerve-matter  that  control  sight.  From  these  bodies 
a  large  nerve  goes  to  each  eye.  These  nerves  are 
called  the  optic  nerves.  They  go  through  the  coats 
of  the  eyeball  and  spread  out  in  the  retina.  And 
now  I  will  tell  you  about  the  dark  part  of  the 
eye  that  we  can  see.  That  black  place  in  the  mid- 
dle   is    a    hole." 

They  were  all  surprised  at  this.  Hattie  didn't 
think    it    looked    like    a    hole. 

"What    is    it    for?"    asked    Jack,    as    usual. 

"  To  let  the  rays  of  light  in.  They  fall  on  the  ret- 
ina clear  back  in  there.  The  light  makes  the  nerves 
begin  to  move,  and  so,  by  this  motion,  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  thing  we  see  is  carried  to  the  brain. 
Around  this  little  hole  is    the  iris.     Jack  and  Arthur 


THE  EYE.  159 

have  brown  irises,  and  Florence  and  Hattie  blue. 
Robbie's    are    blue,    too." 

"What  about  albinos?  They  have  pink  irises," 
said    Florence. 

"Yes.  In  an  albino  the  choroid  coat  is  not 
colored  black  at  all,  and  the  iris  is  not  colored. 
There  is  a  muscle  inside  the  iris  to  make  it  grow 
larger   and    smaller." 

"But,  mamma,  what  is  inside  the  coverings?  is 
it    hollow  ?  "   asked    Florence. 

"  No.  It  is  all  filled  up.  Between  the  cornea  and 
the    iris  is    a    salty   liquid  like  water,    only    thicker." 

"  Doesn't  it  run    through  the  pupil  ? "  Jack  asked. 

"Yes.  It  fills  up  all  the  space  it  can  find.  It  is 
called  the  aqueous  humor.     Aqueous  means  watery. 

"  Behind  this,  and  behind  the  iris,  is  a  membrane 
clear  and  soft,  but  harder  than  the  aqueous  humor. 
It  is  rounded  out  on  both  sides ;  more  at  the  back 
than  in  front.  It  is  called  the  crystalline  lens.  Be- 
cause it  is  shaped  like  a  lens,  and  is  clear  as 
crystal,    I    suppose. 

"  Behind     this,    and    filling     up     the     rest     of    the 


160  THE  EYE. 

eyeball,  is   a   clear   soft  substance   called  the  vitreous 
humor." 

"  Vitreous  means  glassy,  doesn't  it  ?  "  asked  Arthur 
"  Yes ;    and    the    humor   is    called  vitreous    because 
it  looks  like    melted  glass." 

"  What    keeps    the    ball    in  ? "    asked    Jack. 
"  Six    muscles    fasten    it    to    the    bone    around    the 
eye  and    move    it." 

"  What  makes    us    cry  ? "   said    Hattie. 
"  Bumps !  "   said    Jack,    under    his    breath. 

"  There    is    a    little    sac    or   gland 
above  the  eye   that  has  an  opening 
in    the    upper    eyelid.     This    gland 
l-g,  the  ljttle  sac  or     makes    tears    all    the    time.     When 

GLAND     THAT     MAKES    THE 

we  wink  the  eyelid  brings  the 
water  over  the  eye  so  as  to  keep  it  moist.  When 
we    cry    tears    are    made    a   good  deal    faster." 

"  What  awful  big  ones  girls  must  have ! "  was 
Jack's    unkind    remark. 

"  I  suppose  the  eyelids  and  lashes  and  winkers 
are  made  to  keep  the  dust  out  of  the  eye,  are  they 
not  ?  "  asked    Arthur. 


THE  EYE.  161 

"  Yes  ;  but  we  have  had  a  long  lesson,  we  must 
stop    now." 

"Come  on,  Arthur!"  said  Jack.  "Let's  dig  the 
old    cow's    eye    out   to    see    what    it    looks    like." 

I  knew  Jack's  kind  heart  too  well  to  fear  for 
the    cow. 


CHAPTER   XL 


THE     EAR. 


OTHING  of  especial  interest  hap- 
pened before  the  next  Friday,  when 
we    were    to    talk    about   the   ear. 

We   sat  down  outdoors,  and,  with- 
out   waiting,    Jack    said,  — 
"  I    suppose     this    is    another    end    organ.     I    don't 
see    the    use    of    talking    about    it,    anyway.     We   can 
see    the  whole    thing,    and    if   I    just    pull    and    pinch 
Florence's   ear  enough    I    can    find  out  all  about  it." 

He  began  to  pull  and  pinch,  "  just  to  show  us 
how,"    he    said. 

"  Oh  !  "  squealed  Florence.  "  You've  let  me  know 
that  I  have  nerves  there,  anyway.  Pull  your  own 
ear. 

I  told  Jack  he  might  be  teacher,  and  tell  us  all 
he   knew,    but    he    begged   to    be    excused. 

162 


THE   EAR. 


163 


"  The  ear,"  I  said,  "  is  an  end  organ.  It  has  three 
parts.     Do    you    know    what    they    are,    Jack?" 

He  felt  of  his  ear  and  answered,  "  A  hole ;  a 
round    wiggle,    and    a    flap    to    keep    the   dust  out." 

I  asked  Arthur  if  that  was  right.  He  "  guessed 
not."     "  I   think    there  is  something  inside,"  he  said. 

"  Yes.      There    is  ca 

the  outside  ear  that 
we  can  see,  the  mid- 
dle ear,  and  another 
beyond." 

"Just  what  I  told 
you,  Arthur,"  Jack 
said  ;  "  but,  mother, 
what    is    the   use   of 

INTERIOR   PARTS  OF  THE  EAR  :    C-O,  OUTSIDE   PART   OF   THE 
the        OUtSide        flaD.  EAR:     r-^¥,  THE  DKUM  ;    M-a-l-l,  THE    HAMMER-SHAPED 

BONE  ;   I-tt-C,  THE  ANVIL-SHAPED  BONK  ;     I-M,  THE   SPACE 

can     see     that     the       FOR  THB  AUDIT0RY  NERVB- 

hole    might    be    good    to     let    the    sounds     in,    but    I 

should    think    that    was    enough." 

"  The  flap,  as  you  are  pleased  to  call  it,  my  son, 
is  what  persons  not  so  wise  as  you  call  the  out- 
side ear.     This  collects  the  sounds,  so  that  a  greater 


164 


THE  EAR. 


number   of    them    can    go    into    the    hole.  The    hole 

is  an   opening   into  a  crooked  hollow  tube  that  leads 
into    the    middle    ear." 

"Doesn't  that  tube  lead  to  the  drum  of  the  ear?" 
asked    Florence. 

The  drum  of    the  ear  is  the 
middle  ear.     A  mem- 


"  Yes,"   I    answered. 


brane  is  stretched 
across  the  end  of 
the  tube.  This  mem- 
brane separates  the 
tube    from    the    mid- 


nar 


DRUM  OF  THE  EAR   ANn  SMALL   BONES  :    S-t,  THE  STIRRUP-  die        Q2iV . 

SHAPED  BONE;   l-ll-C,  THE  ANVIL-SHAPED  BONE  ;     M-a-l-l, 
THE  HAMMER-SHAPED  BONE.  II     A   y.A       whCTC        dOCS 

the    wax    come    from?"    continued    Arthur. 

"  Some  little  sacs  or  glands  that  are  placed  in 
the  tube  are  making  it  all  the  time.  It  keeps  the 
membrane   inside    the    tube    soft." 

"  What  is  behind  that  membrane  ?  "  Florence 
asked. 

"  A  hollow  place,  with  a  chain  of  three  funny- 
shaped     bones    in    it.      The    first    of    these    bones    is 


THE  EAR.  165 

shaped  like  a  hammer,  the  second  like  an  anvil, 
and    the    third    like    a    stirrup." 

"  They  must    be  tiny  bits  of    things,"  said   Hattie. 

"Yes;  they  are  very  small.  They  are  separated 
from  the  inner  ear  by  a  wall  made  partly  of  bone 
and    partly    of    membrane." 

"What    is    the    inner    ear?"    asked    Jack. 

"It  is  a  queer-shaped  sac  made  of  membrane.  It 
is  called  the  labyrinth.  One  part  of  it  is  shaped 
like  a  shell.  Things  are  so  mixed  up  in  there  that 
I  cannot  possibly  make  you  understand  about  it. 
Liquid    lies    all    around    this    membrane." 

"What's   that    for?"    said    Jack. 

"  It    helps    to   make    the    sounds    pass." 

"  How  do  we  know  that  we  hear  ? "  Florence 
said. 

"  By  a  nerve  that  comes  from  the  brain.  This 
nerve  spreads  out  in  the  labyrinth  all  among  those 
queer-shaped    sacs." 

"Just    how    do    we    hear?"    asked    Hattie. 

"  In  the  first  place,  a  wave  of  sound  goes  in 
through  the  hole,  and  presses  against   the    membrane 


1 66  THE   EAR. 

that  covers  the  drum.  This  membrane  moves  the 
little  bones  inside  the  drum.  These  bones  carry 
the  sound  wave  to  the  membrane  between  the 
drum  and  the  labyrinth.  When  the  sound  wave 
reaches  the  labyrinth  it  sets  the  auditory  nerve  in 
motion.  In  that  way  the  vibrations  made  by  the 
things    we    hear  are    carried    to    the    brain." 

They  all  seemed  to  understand  it,  and  Jack  said 
that  "  the  ear  was  a  bigger  thing  than  he  thought 
it  was." 

"  Animals  have  big  flaps  to  their  ears,  don't 
they?  "  said  Arthur. 

"  Yes ;  and  you  know  that  some  animals  have 
much    more    power    to    hear    than   we    have." 

"How    do    people    get    deaf?"    asked    Hattie. 

"In  different  ways ;  either  the  auditory  nerve 
inside  the  labyrinth  is  injured,  or  something  may 
prevent  sounds  from  passing  so  as  to  reach  the 
nerve." 

But    lunch    was    called,    so  we    went    in. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

TOUCH,  TASTE  AND  SMELL. 

E  sat  down  on  the  twentieth 
of  August  to  our  last  lesson. 
The     children    felt    sorry    that 

f/Ni     if-    '''L-JPil      we    were    through. 

U  /ii'j'ii!,''',  Jp%  £>  "Do  we  know  it  all, mamma?" 

''  rlorence    asked. 

"  No,    indeed ;    you    know    only  a   very  few    of    the 
wonders   of    your    body,"    I    answered. 

"Why   can't   we    learn    more?"    she    continued. 

"  Wait    till    you    are    older.     Then    you    can." 

"School    begins  week    after  next,   doesn't   it?"   said 
Jack.     "  Plague    take   it !  " 

"Yes;    and    I   want    you    to    have   a    little   vacation 
before    that    time." 

"Well,    what    do    we    learn    about    this    morning?" 
he    continued. 

167 


168  TOUCH',    TASTE  AND   SMELL. 

"  I  want  you  to  learn  a  few  things  about  smelling, 
hearing,    and    touch." 

"We    smell    in    our  noses,   don't  we?"  said  Jack. 

"  Yes.     What    is    you    nose  ?  " 

"  This  thing  ;  "  and  he  gave  to  the  little  mountain 
on     Hattie's     face,    usually    called     her    nose,    a    pull. 

"That  is  not  Hattie's  nose,"  I  said.  "It  is  only 
the   covering   of    her  nose." 

"  Where    and    what    is    her    nose  ? "    asked  Arthur. 

"  The  most  of  it  is  a  hole  in  the  bones  of  her  face." 

"  That's    funny,"    said    Arthur. 

"Yes.  In  the  middle  of  the  bone-man's  face 
there    is    a    hole,    do    you   remember  ? " 

They    remembered. 

"  That  is  the  place  where  the  nerve  of  smell  is 
set  in  motion  by  things  from  outside.  The  hole 
is  divided  into  two  parts  by  the  bone  in  your 
nose    that    you    feel." 

"  What  are  the  holes  in  the  covering  of  the  nose 
for?"    asked    Hattie. 

"They  open  into  the  air  in  front,  and  there 
is    another    hole    opening    into    the    throat    behind." 


TOUCH,    TASTE  AND   SMELL. 


169 


"Then    the    nose    isn't   just    to    smell    with?"    said 
Jack. 

"  No." 

"Do    the    nerves    just    spread    out    into    nothing?" 
asked    Jack    again. 

"  O,  no  !  There  is  mem- 
brane there  for  them  to 
spread    out    into." 

"  Didn't  you  say  in  one 
of  our  first  lessons  that 
the  part  of  our  nose  that 
we  can  move  is  carti- 
lage?"   said    Arthur. 

"  Yes." 

"Well,  I  shan't  call 
this  my  nose  any  more. 
I  shall  call  it  my  cover- 
ing,"   said  Jack. 

"    1     dOn   t     think     1     WOUld,  SECTION  OF  THE  NOSE  AND  PARTS  CLOSE  to  it: 

/,  THE"  NERVE  OF  SMELL,"  AND  ITS  BRANCHES. 

I  answered  ;  "  people  not  so 

learned  as  you  would  not  understand  you,   I   think." 
"  All    right,"  he   said.     "  Where    do   I    taste  ? " 


170  TOUCH,    TASTE  AND   SMELL. 

"  On  the  back  part  of  the  tongue.  The  nerves 
that    come   from    the    brain    spread    out    there." 

"Don't  we  taste  anywhere  else?"  Hattie  asked. 
"  It  seems  as  if  I  could  taste  on  other  parts  of  my 
tongue." 

"  You  cannot.  The  soft  palate  helps  a  little, 
though." 

"Is  the  taste-nerve  in  the  muscle  of  the  tongue?" 
Arthur    asked. 

"  No ;  it  is  in  the  membrane  that  covers  the 
muscle." 

"Can't  we  touch  with  the  tongue?  It  seems  as 
if    we    could,"    said    Florence. 

"  Yes ;  the  tip  of  the  tongue  can  feel  as  dis- 
tinctly   as    any    part    of    the    body." 

"  Do  we  touch  with  anything  except  our  fin- 
gers ? "    asked    Hattie. 

"Think." 

"  Of  course  we  do,"  said  Jack.  "  We  can  touch 
everywhere,    can't    we?" 

"  Yes.  I  told  you  something  about  touch  in  one 
of   our    first    lessons.     Do    you    remember?" 


TOUCH,    TASTE  AND   SMELL. 


171 


"  Oh !     I    do,"    said    Arthur.     "  The    feeling   is    in 
the    second    skin." 

"That    is    right.     The    nerves   form    little    branches 
or  loops  in   the  second  skin. 
These  are   the  end  organs  of 
the    nerves." 

"  The  nose  and  tongue 
are  end  organs,  are  they 
not  ?  "    said    Jack. 

"  Yes." 

"  The  more  I  think  about 
the  nerves  the  more  strange 
they    seem,"    said    Arthur. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  but  they 
are  not  much  more  strange 
than  the  rest  of  the  body. 
They  would  be  helpless  with- 
out  the    rest." 


fC.fi, 


THE  MOUTH  WIDELY  OPENED  TO  SHOW 
THE  TONGUE  AND  PALATE :  ON  THE 
RIGHT  SIDE  OF  THE  TONGUE — THE 
TONGUE  IS  PARTIALLY  CUT  AWAY  SO  AS 
TO  SHOW  THE  FIBRES  OF  THE  "  TASTE 
NERVES  "  WHICH   END  AT  THE  SPOTS  C-p 


AND  F. 


"That's   true,"    he   said. 

"  But  now,  my  dears,  we  are  through,  and  let 
me  tell  you  one  thing  that  is  more  important  than 
anything     else :     remember     to     take     care    of    your 


172  TOUCH,    TASTE  AND   SMELL. 

bodies.  I  want  you  to  grow  up  to  be  useful  men 
and  women.  It  is  not  now  while  you  are  children 
that  you  will  suffer  because  you  abuse  your  bodies. 
It  is  when  you  grow  older.  The  parts  will  be 
worn  out  trying  to  do  work  that  was  too  hard  for 
them  to  do,  and  you  will  die  or  be  sick  and 
worthless." 

We  had  been  sitting  in  a  little  arbor  formed  by 
a  few  trees  that  grew  by  the  side  of  the  lake. 
The  sun  was  making  little  sparkles  on  the  water. 
A  light  wind  was  moving  the  branches  and  the 
birds    were    singing  above   us. 

"  Promise  me,"  I  said,  "  that  you  will  not  forget 
what  I  have  told  you  this  morning.  It  shall  be  my 
reward    for    the    work    I    have    done    for   you." 

They  promised,  one  by  one,  and  they  have  not 
forgotten.  Strong  minds  and  strong  bodies  are  tl\e 
result    of    their   care. 


